Frozen donor stool may cure C diff

The use of frozen stool from healthy donors for fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) successfully treated 18 of 20 patients (90%) who had serious, relapsing diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile, according to a study yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

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The treatment was equally effective whether given via colonoscope or a less invasive nasogastric tube.

Massachusetts researchers treated patients who had repeated episodes of C difficile infection using FMT, which helps restore a healthy balance of bacteria in the digestive tract. Fourteen of the patients were cured after one treatment, meaning no disease relapse within 8 weeks. Of the remaining six patients, five received a second administration, and four of them were cured.

The researchers used frozen fecal material from unrelated donors that was screened well ahead of time. Patients who required a second infusion were allowed to choose between the two methods, and all five chose the nasogastric tube.

"We found that delivery of a frozen, stored inoculum through a nasogastric tube is safe, acceptable to patients and as successful as delivery by colonoscopy—which requires a preparatory 'clean out,' sedation or anesthesia, and is quite costly," said senior author Elizabeth Hohmann, MD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Infectious Diseases Division, in an MGH news release.

The researchers are now studying placing the donated material into a frozen capsule, which patients would take orally and would remain undigested until it reaches the small intestine, according to the release.

References

1. Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP). University of Minnesota. (2014, April 24). Study: Frozen donor stool via nasogastric tube may cure C diff. Retrieved from http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/04/news-scan-apr-24-2014.