Could Donor Matching Help Fecal Transplants to Work Better?

Though it may be hard to get past the “ick factor”, fecal transplants—putting fecal matter from a healthy donor into a patient’s intestine—is proving to be a surprisingly effective way to treat serious infections such as Clostridium difficile. However, so far the therapy has not been as successful in treating chronic conditions such as Chron’s or inflammatory bowel disease. June Round, PhD, assistant professor of pathology at the University of Utah, describes her research demonstrating that not all fecal transplants are the same. She explains the biological reasons behind why some are better than others, and how these findings may improve fecal transplant therapy in the future. The work was recently published in the journal, Nature Communications.