Intestinal microbiota and the efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation in gastrointestinal disease

Abstract

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) refers to the infusion of a fecal suspension from a healthy person into the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of another person to cure a specific disease. FMT is by no means a new therapeutic modality, although it was only relatively recently that stool was shown to be a biologically active, complex mixture of living organisms with great therapeutic potential for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection and perhaps other GI and non-GI disorders. The published revelations about the human microbiome are bringing the strength of science to clinical observation and enhancing the understanding of not only disease but also how much of a person's daily function and health depends on the microorganisms living in intimate relationship with each cell in the body.

Keywords: Clostridium difficile; Fecal microbiota transplantation; inflammatory bowel disease; irritable bowel syndrome.