Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), a highly effective treatment for Clostridium difficile infection, is now being explored for complex diseases, but innovative trial design and collaborative approaches are essential for unlocking its therapeutic potential. If ‘superstool’ capable of treating a complex disease exists, then FMT trials should aim to find and use it.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Demystifying the manipulation of host immunity, metabolism, and extraintestinal tumors by the gut microbiome
Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy Open Access 12 October 2019
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Kassam, Z. et al. Fecal microbiota transplantation for Clostridium difficile infection: systematic review and meta-analysis. Am. J. Gastroenterol. 108, 500–508 (2013).
Allegretti, J. et al. The current landscape and lessons from fecal microbiota transplantation for inflammatory bowel disease: past, present, and future. Inflamm. Bowel Dis. 23, 1710–1717 (2017).
Ott, S. J. et al. Efficacy of sterile fecal filtrate transfer for treating patients with Clostridium difficile infection. Gastroenterology 152, 799–811.e7 (2017).
Turnbaugh, P. J. et al. The human microbiome project. Nature 449, 804–810 (2007).
Narula, N. et al. Systematic review and meta-analysis: fecal microbiota transplantation for treatment of active ulcerative colitis. Inflamm. Bowel Dis. 23, 1702–1709 (2017).
Moayyedi, P. et al. Fecal microbiota transplantation induces remission in patients with active ulcerative colitis in a randomized controlled trial. Gastroenterology 149, 102–109.e6 (2015).
Olesen, S. W., Gurry, T. & Alm, E. J. Designing fecal microbiota transplant trials that account for differences in donor stool efficacy. Stat. Methods Med. Res. https://doi.org/10.1177/0962280216688502 (2017).
Berry, S. M., Connor, J. T. & Lewis, R. J. The platform trial: an efficient strategy for evaluating multiple treatments. JAMA 313, 1619–1620 (2015).
Woodcock, J. & LaVange, L. M. Master protocols to study multiple therapies, multiple diseases, or both. N. Engl. J. Med. 377, 62–70 (2017).
Crum-Cianflone, N. F., Sullivan, E. & Ballon-Landa, G. Fecal microbiota transplantation and successful resolution of multidrug-resistant-organism colonization. J. Clin. Microbiol. 53, 1986–1989 (2015).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Olesen, S.W., Leier, M.M., Alm, E.J. et al. Searching for superstool: maximizing the therapeutic potential of FMT. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 15, 387–388 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-018-0019-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-018-0019-4
This article is cited by
-
The interplay between anticancer challenges and the microbial communities from the gut
European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (2022)
-
Demystifying the manipulation of host immunity, metabolism, and extraintestinal tumors by the gut microbiome
Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy (2019)