Fecal microbiota transfer for bowel disorders: efficacy or hype?

Fecal microbiota transfer for bowel disorders: efficacy or hype? Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2018 Sep 12;43:72-80 Authors: Schmulson M, Bashashati M Abstract PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Dysbiosis has been related to the pathophysiology of disorders of - gut-brain interaction (DGBI) including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional constipation (FC). Accordingly, modulation of gut microbiota has been proposed as a potential treatment for these disorders. Gut microbiota modulation can be effected by probiotics, prebiotics, symbiotics, postbiotics, antibiotics and fecal transplantation (FMT) or bacteriotherapy. The latter is currently used for recurrent or severe Clostridium difficile colitis and has been the focus of recent research in IBS and FC. RECENT FINDINGS: Several case series reported promising results for FMT in patients with IBS and FC, which prompted the conduction of randomized controlled trials (RCT) in these DGBI. SUMMARY: Both case series and RCTs are herein discussed. To the best of our knowledge, as of yet, 5 RCTs have been published on IBS and one in FC with slow colonic transit. In IBS, the majority of studies have used the IBS severity scoring system (IBS-SSS) as an outcome measure; however, the selection criteria were different among the trials as well as the route and form of administration of the FMT. Therefore, the results are inconsistent and no conclusion can be drawn. Some studies suggest that the prese...
Source: Current Opinion in Pharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Curr Opin Pharmacol Source Type: research