Improving Risk-Benefit in Faecal Transplantation through Microbiome Screening

Lito E Papanicolas, David L Gordon, Steve L Wesselingh, Geraint B Rogers

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been shown to be effective in the treatment of a growing number of conditions, and its clinical use continues to rise. However, recent cases of antibiotic-resistant pathogen transmission through FMT, resulting in at least one case of fatal sepsis, highlight the need to reevaluate current donor screening practices. Commensal gut microbes profoundly influence infection risk but are not routinely assessed in donor stool. Extending the assessment of donor material beyond pathogen populations to include the composition and structure of the wider faecal microbiota has the potential to reduce infectious complications in FMT recipients.

Original languageEnglish
JournalTrends in Microbiology
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 15 Jan 2020

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