- Research out of Europe shows that fecal transplants may be an effective treatment for people with end-stage chronic liver disease.
- The transplants work by replacing “bad” bacteria in the gut microbiome with “good” bacteria from a healthy donor.
- Fecal transplant pills have been approved in the United States to treat C. difficile infection.
- In addition to the cirrhosis research, there are a number of other potential applications for fecal transplantation.
New research into fecal transplants may turn out to be a game-changer for people with chronic liver disease.
A team led by King’s College London is set to begin a clinical trial there — known as the PROMISE trial — after promising results from an initial trial, known as the PROFIT trial.
The findings from the
While the viability and health benefits of fecal transplants have long been known, researchers involved in the trial say they hope their data will lead to alternative treatment options for people with cirrhosis.
Dr, Daniel Freedberg is a gastroenterologist, internal medicine specialist, and assistant professor of medicine and epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in New York as well as a member of the scientific advisory council of the Peggy Lillis Foundation.
Freedberg, who is not involved in the clinical trial, told Medical News Today that records of fecal transplants go back centuries.
“More recently, we have two decades of experience using fecal transplants for recurrent Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) infection,” he explained. “Fecal transplants take stool from a healthy individual and put it into a sick individual. The idea is that normal, healthy gut bacteria will replace the damaged gut bacteria and help to restore health. Fecal transplants can be done via…
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