Front Med (Lausanne). 2022 Dec 8;9:1060581. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.1060581.eCollection 2022.

Sevag Hamamah ¹, Roxana Gheorghita ^2 3, Andrei Lobiuc ², Ioan-Ovidiu Sirbu ^3 4, Mihai Covasa ^1 2

Author information

¹Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, United States.

²Department of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine and Biological Science, University of Suceava, Suceava, Romania.

³Department of Biochemistry, Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania.

⁴Center for Complex Network Science, Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania.

Abstract

Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) is a therapeutic method that aims to restore normal gut microbial composition in recipients. Currently, FMT is approved in the USA to treat recurrent and refractory Clostridioides difficile infection and has been shown to have great efficacy. As such, significant research has been directed toward understanding the potential role of FMT in other conditions associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis such as obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, neuropsychiatric disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, decompensated cirrhosis, cancers and graft-versus-host disease. This review examines current updates and efficacy of FMT in treating conditions other than Clostridioides difficile infection. Further, protocols for administration of FMT are also discussed including storage of fecal samples in stool banks, inclusion/exclusion criteria for donors, fecal sample preparation and methods of treatment administration. Overall, understanding the mechanisms by which FMT can manipulate gut microbiota to provide therapeutic benefit as well as identifying potential adverse effects is an important step in clarifying its long-term safety and efficacy in treating multiple conditions in the future.