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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday March 19 2017, @08:21PM   Printer-friendly
from the a-better-approach-than-the-breakfast-shake-idea dept.

We have a fecal matter to discuss:

Frozen and freeze-dried products for Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) are nearly as effective as fresh product at treating patients with Clostridium difficile (C-diff) infection, according to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health and Kelsey Research Foundation. A new study, which proves that a pill form of treatment could be effective and more convenient for patients and physicians, was published in the most recent issue of Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics.

[...] For the study, UTHealth and Kelsey Research Foundation investigators enrolled 72 patients who had at least three bouts of recurrent C-diff in a clinical trial and treated them with either fresh, frozen or freeze-dried FMT product via colonoscopy. Fresh FMT product produced a 100 percent cure rate among participants; frozen product produced an 83 percent cure rate and freeze-dried product produced a 69 percent cure rate. Frozen and fresh product fully restored the microbiota diversity among participants within seven days after treatment. Researchers saw some improvement in microbiota diversity among participants treated with freeze-dried product after seven days and full restoration of healthy bacteria within 30 days.

[...] "Freeze-dried product can be put into a pill that can be given orally, which is much more convenient for patients and physicians," said DuPont, who is currently testing the safety and efficacy of a pill version of the product.

Clostridium difficile infection.

Randomised clinical trial: faecal microbiota transplantation for recurrent Clostridum difficile infection - fresh, or frozen, or lyophilised microbiota from a small pool of healthy donors delivered by colonoscopy (open, DOI: 10.1111/apt.13969) (DX)


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 19 2017, @11:09PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 19 2017, @11:09PM (#481289)

    why can't they just make a suppository?

  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday March 19 2017, @11:36PM (4 children)

    by looorg (578) on Sunday March 19 2017, @11:36PM (#481293)

    Does it really matter? It's not like you are going to lick shit (literally) as it is now - I'm sure they'll have one of them gel-capsules around it so the fecal goodness doesn't enter your system until it reaches the stomach and beyond/below. Suppository should or could be an option, it just might not get far enough in/up there - plus it's usually easier to swallow a pill then inserting one rectally and taking the pill orally really decreases the awkward factor if you have to do it in a crowded room.

    Overall it's one of those things that seem really weird and one wonders how on earth they came up with the idea and who wanted to be a test subject for it - yes we are going to take fecal-matter from another person and give it to you like a giant enema. But apparently it works - good bacteria all around for all involved.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by ese002 on Monday March 20 2017, @12:23AM (2 children)

      by ese002 (5306) on Monday March 20 2017, @12:23AM (#481299)

      Does it really matter? It's not like you are going to lick shit (literally) as it is now - I'm sure they'll have one of them gel-capsules around it so the fecal goodness doesn't enter your system until it reaches the stomach and beyond/below.

      Because if it opens in the small intestine, you get get quite a mess. Fecal bacteria will happily eat the the abundance of sugars in the small intestine and have a little population explosion where they should not even be. Getting a coating that will survive until the large intestine and reliably open there is a bit tricky. If you are using specific bacteria strains you can choose the ones that won't be big problem if they open in the small intestine. Raw fecal material, though, has all strains. That means you better be sure the coating will be intact until it has passed the small intestine. That runs the risk that coating won't open at all, making the whole effort worthless. Entric coated enzymes and probiotic tablets often run into this problem.

      I'm not sure how well a suppository would work, though. That would be inserting bacteria against the flow. Direct fecal transplants (no pills) probably work because of the very large quantity of bacteria applied. Even if most comes right back out, there is still enough to colonize the gut successfully.

    • (Score: 2) by Dunbal on Monday March 20 2017, @01:24AM

      by Dunbal (3515) on Monday March 20 2017, @01:24AM (#481311)

      The burps, however...

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 20 2017, @02:11AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 20 2017, @02:11AM (#481328)

    why can't they just make a suppository?

    I seem to recall seeing a story that there were clinical trials in which they did precisely this. If I remember correctly, the patient had to go to a doctor's office two or three times over the course of three months or so in order to spread out the suppositories over a few months time. Can anyone confirm this or is my memory just flaky?