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New research suggests that stools from so-called “super donors” have such rich microbial diversity that using them for fecal transplants could cure conditions ranging from inflammatory bowel disease to Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis. Recently, a growing number of studies have discovered diseases that are connected with changes in the gut’s microbiota.
Cancer, obesity, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder are only some of the conditions that researchers have linked with an imbalance in the bacterial composition of our gut. This imbalance bears the name “dysbiosis,” and observational studies have noted a link between microbial dysbiosis and allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. Links between gut bacteria and age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s or age-induced paralysis.
Many of the studies that have illuminated these connections have been conducted in germ-free mice. In these tests, researchers replaced the rodents’ gut microbiotas with healthier bacteria by performing fecal transplants from a healthy donor.
Physicians use the same procedure of stool transplantation in human clinical trials. But new research suggests that some stools are better than others that is, so-called super donors have certain bacteria in their guts that can help restore the microbial diversity that is lost in conditions like inflammatory bowel disease and diabetes.
If researchers gain a better understanding of the mechanisms through which these super donor stool samples help cure chronic disease, fecal transplantation could be a safe and effective therapy for a wide range of illnesses. With this rationale in mind, Justin O’Sullivan, Ph.D., of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and colleagues set out to review existing clinical trials of fecal transplantation.
The team published its findings in the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.
The researchers’ analysis also reveals that the interplay between viruses, the diet, and the immune system all influence the existence and development of beneficial bacteria. “For example, the success of fecal transplants has been associated in some studies with the transfer of viruses [that] infect other gut microbes,” says O’Sullivan.
“Supporting the transplanted microbiome through diet could also improve success,” adds the researcher. Human fecal transplant trials should take into account the donors’ genetic backgrounds and diets, in order to better predict the clinical outcomes of the intervention.