Fecal microbiota transplantation

Fecal microbiota transplantation transfers screened donor microorganisms from stool into a recipient’s gastrointestinal tract. It is used chiefly to treat recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection.

Gut microbiota: The microorganisms living in the gastrointestinal tract and their collective genetic material. The transplant introduces a community into this ecosystem, aiming to restore its composition and function.
Recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection: Repeated episodes of C. difficile infection after treatment, often involving relapse or reinfection. This condition has the strongest clinical evidence and is the main target of the therapy.
Dysbiosis: A disruption in the composition or function of a microbial community associated with a host. The therapy is often framed as correcting microbial disruption linked to recurrent infection.
Probiotics: Live microorganisms administered to provide a health benefit when taken in adequate amounts. Probiotics use selected strains rather than the complex donor-derived community transferred in this treatment.
Clostridioides difficile infection: An intestinal infection caused by toxin-producing Clostridioides difficile bacteria, often following antibiotic disruption of gut microbes. Recurrent infection is the treatment’s principal established indication.
Antibiotic-associated diarrhea: Loose stools occurring during or after antibiotic use, ranging from mild symptoms to C. difficile infection. Microbial disruption links this broader problem to the treatment’s rationale, though it is not a routine indication.
Microbiome: A community of microorganisms together with their genes and surrounding environmental conditions. This broader concept places transplanted gut organisms within their ecological setting.
Prebiotics: Substrates selectively used by host microorganisms to confer a health benefit. Prebiotics feed resident microbes instead of introducing donor microorganisms.
Colonization resistance: Protection against pathogen establishment provided by resident microorganisms and their interactions with a host. Restored microbial communities can suppress C. difficile through competition and other ecological effects.
Ulcerative colitis: A chronic inflammatory bowel disease causing continuous inflammation and ulcers in the colon. Trials have investigated microbial transfer here, but it is not an established standard treatment.

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