Efficacy and Safety Evaluation of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation in Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Participants will be given FMT through oral capsules or nasojejunal tube once a month. After three-time treatment, participants were followed up for three months. Participants complete specific scales to assess improvement in symptoms, emotion and quality of life. Besides, they report adverse effects and collect fecal samples at each visit.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: FMT

Detailed Description

This prospective, single-arm interventional study aims to evaluate efficacy and safety of fecal microbiota transplantation in refractory IBS patients. Patients meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria will provide written informed consent and receive FMT from healthy donors for three times. The administration methods include taking oral capsule or delivering microbiota suspension into the duodenum via nasojejunal tube. The patients receive treatment once a month and will be followed up for 3 months. Improvement in IBS symptoms, emotion and quality of life were assessed through IBS symptom severity scale (IBS-SSS), Gastrointestinal symptom rating scale (GSRS), IBS-Global Assessment of Improvement (IBS-GAI), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) and IBS-Quality of Life (IBS-QoL) respectively. Patients were asked to complete these scales and collect fecal samples at baseline, post-FMT and at 1, 2, 3 and 4 months after FMT. Primary endpoints were improvement in IBS-SSS score and global symptoms after three-time FMT. Secondary endpoints include Change in GSRS score, improvement in emotion and quality of life at post-FMT, 1 and 6 months, as well as change in fecal microbiota composition.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 102
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Shengdi Wu; Phone Number: (86)13817923359; Email: wu.shengdi@zs-hospital.sh.cn
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Ling Dong; Phone Number: (86)13916877798; Email: dong.ling@zs-hospital.sh.cn

Study Locations

• China
  • Shanghai Municipality
    • Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China, 200032
      • Recruiting
      • Zhongshan hospital, Fudan university
      • Contact: Shengdi Wu; Phone Number: (86)13817923359; Email: wu.shengdi@zs-hospital.sh.cn

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients who fulfilled the Rome IV criteria for the diagnosis of IBS, aged 18-70 years;
• Patients who have experienced failure of at least 3 conventional therapies for IBS;
• Absence of red flags such as weight loss, hematochezia;

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pregnant, planning pregnancy or lactating;
• Psychiatric disorder or unable to cooperate with treatment and follow-up visit;
• Immunodeficiency or treatment with immune-modulating medication;
• Use of probiotics within the previous 3 months or treatment with antibiotics within 1 month prior to study entry;
• Having undergone any abdominal surgery, with the exception of appendectomy, cholecystectomy, caesarean section and hysterectomy;
• Presence of uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension, thyroid disease or other systemic disease;
• Presence of severe diseases related to heart, brain, kidney and lung or concomitant malignancies;

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: FMT; Participants will be given FMT through oral capsules or nasojejunal tube once a month for three months.	Other: FMT; FMT refers to transplanting healthy donor-derived microbiota to participants via oral capsule or injection of fecal suspension via nasojejunal tube.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from baseline IBS symptom severity scale (IBS-SSS) score at 9 weeks	IBS symptom severity scale (IBS-SSS) is used to evaluate change in IBS symptoms, with a score ranging from 0 to 500. Higher score means severer IBS symptom. Change in IBS-SSS score is obtained by evaluating the scale at baseline and 9 weeks (after three-time FMT).	at baseline and 9 weeks
Response rate at 9 weeks	Investigator ask participants a single question, "Compared to the way you felt before you entered the study, have you IBS symptoms over the past 7 days been: 1)"Substantially Worse"; 2)"Moderately Worse"; 3) Slightly Worse; 4)"No Change"; 5) Slightly Improved"; 6) Moderately Improved"; 7) Substantially Improved". Responder is defined as participants who report "moderately improved" or "substantially improved".	at 9 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from baseline IBS symptom severity scale (IBS-SSS) score at 1 week, 1 month and 6 months	IBS symptom severity scale (IBS-SSS) is used to evaluate change in IBS symptoms, with a score ranging from 0 to 500. Higher score means severer IBS symptom. Change in IBS-SSS score is obtained by evaluating the scale at baseline and at 1 week (after first FMT), 1 month (three weeks after first FMT), and 6 months (4 months after three-time FMT).	at baseline, 1 week, 1 month and 6 months
Change from baseline Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) score at 1 week, 1 month, 9 weeks and 6 months	Gastrointestinal symptom rating scale (GSRS) is used to evaluate change in gastrointestinal symptoms, with a score ranging from 15 to 105. Higher score means severer gastrointestinal symptoms. Change in IBS-SSS score is obtained by evaluating the scale at baseline, 1 week (after first FMT), 1 month (three weeks after first FMT), 9 weeks (after three-time FMT) and 6 months (4 months after three-time FMT).	at baseline, 1 week, 1 month, 9 weeks and 6 months
Change from baseline IBS-Quality of Life (IBS-QoL) score at 1 month, 3 months and 6 months	IBS-Quality of Life (IBS-QoL) is a specific scale used to evaluate change in quality of life, with a score ranging from 0 to 100. Higher score indicates worse quality of life. Change in IBS-QoL score is obtained by evaluating the scale at baseline, 1 month (three weeks after first FMT), 3 months (three weeks after third FMT) and 6 months (4 months after three-time FMT). An over-14-point reduction is considered a significant improvement in quality of life.	at baseline, 1 month, 3months and 6 months
Change from baseline Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) score at 1 month, 3 months and 6 months	Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) is used to evaluate change in IBS-related anxiety, with a score ranging from 25 to 100. Higher score indicates higher level of anxiety. Change in SAS score is obtained by evaluating the scale at baseline, 1 month (three weeks after first FMT), 3 months (three weeks after third FMT) and 6 months (4 months after three-time FMT).	at baseline, 1 month, 3months and 6 months
Change from baseline Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) score at 1 month, 3 months and 6 months	Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) is used to evaluate change in IBS-related depression, with a score ranging from 25 to 100. Higher score indicates higher level of depression. Change in SDS score is obtained by evaluating the scale at baseline, 1 month (three weeks after first FMT), 3 months (three weeks after third FMT) and 6 months (4 months after three-time FMT).	at baseline, 1 month, 3months and 6 months
Response rate at 1 week, 1month, 3 months and 6 months	Investigator ask participants a single question, "Compared to the way you felt before you entered the study, have you IBS symptoms over the past 7 days been: 1)"Substantially Worse"; 2)"Moderately Worse"; 3) Slightly Worse; 4)"No Change"; 5) Slightly Improved"; 6) Moderately Improved"; 7) Substantially Improved". Responder is defined as participants who report "moderately improved" or "substantially improved".	at 1 week, 1month, 3 months and 6 months
Change from baseline fecal microbiota composition at 1 week, 1 month and 6 months	Fecal samples are collected at baseline, 1 week (after first FMT), 1 month (three weeks after first FMT) and 6 months (4 months after three-time FMT). Change in fecal microbiota was measured by 16S rRNA sequencing and metagenomics.	at baseline, 1 week, 1 month and 6 months
Change from baseline fecal metabolites at 1 week, 1 month and 6 months	Fecal samples are collected at baseline, 1 week (after first FMT), 1 month (three weeks after first FMT) and 6 months (4 months after three-time FMT). Change in fecal metabolites are measured by untargeted metabolomics.	at baseline, 1 week, 1 month and 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Shanghai Zhongshan Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ling Dong, Fudan University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 10, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 9, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 21, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): February 23, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 25, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 24, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Intestinal Diseases; Digestive System Diseases; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Colonic Diseases; Colonic Diseases, Functional; Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Other Study ID Numbers: B2022-507R

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No