How Exactly Does a Waste Products Transplant Operate?

Examine the science behind the practice of fecal microbial transplantation, in which medical professionals introduce a patient's excrement to help rebalance their gut flora.

Ge Hong, a Chinese alchemist, gained fame for his soup that could treat patients with diarrhea 1,700 years ago. Feces was a startling secret component in it. While it may seem foolish to eat feces, intriguing new research indicates that ingesting crap in other ways may be beneficial to our health. David L. Suskind and Kathryn M. Stephenson collaborated on this unique study on fecal microbial transplantation.

The stew was a dark golden color and smelled strongly. And it had a secret ingredient, like many family recipes. But in this instance, that component came from the bathroom, not the kitchen. Consuming excrement may seem foolish today, not many doctors would recommend Ge Hong's recipe.

Exciting new research, however, indicates that there may be other health benefits to ingesting excrement. Fecal microbial transplantation is one such treatment, and your gut holds the key to understanding how it functions. The number of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and archaea in the world is in the billions.

Think of your bowels as your home. Each of these microbes has dynamic, specialized abilities that appear to be necessary for human survival, and together, they make up what is known as your gut microbiome. They digest our food, produce vitamins, hone our immune systems, regulate our circadian rhythms, and even guard us against viruses. They get a pleasant, warm place to live in exchange, replete with an unlimited banquet.

According to some studies, our microbiomes may begin to develop while we are still in the womb, but if not, they begin to develop as soon as we are born. Infants who are born vaginally consume some of their mother's microbial and laden secretions. From that point forward, exposure to varied meals and settings leads to a constant diversification of our microbiomes. For the preservation of intestinal health, this is crucial.

If inadequate nutrition, a persistent illness, or antibiotics disturb this delicate equilibrium. The body can become more susceptible to issues like an excess of germs and fungi or contagious diarrhea. Fecal microbioal transplants, on the other hand, appear to help reset the gut microbiome by introducing a fresh group of microbes into the intestine.

There are many unanswered questions regarding the operation of this form of treatment because it is still quite new. As a result, the US Food and Drug Administration only permits physicians to utilize fecal transplants on an experimental basis to treat antibiotic-resistant Clostridium difficile, one of the most difficult gut infections.

In the colon, this contagious bacterium produces spores that are resistant to medications and extremely challenging to defeat. Patients with this virus may endure intermittent fevers for months at a time.

When taking antibiotics, there are often episodes of severe diarrhea and abdominal cramps. So when symptoms become this severe, a fecal bacteria transplant is necessary.

A gastroenterologist often retrieves some stool from a stool bank to begin the process. These frozen samples are especially stunning because the chosen donors go through a rigorous procedure to guarantee their samples are free of contamination. In fact, one well-known stool bank only accepts less than 3% of stools due to these strict safety procedures.

The gastroenterologist then administers a tablet to the patient to administer the sample or, more frequently, a tube into the colon or stomach. The transplanted microorganisms eventually go down the digestive tract until they reach the colon, where they quickly grow and push out the infectious intruder.

Due to its effectiveness, this method cures over 80% of patients in just one procedure. Because every stool sample is unique, the FDA continues to classify fecal transplants as an experimental treatment rather than a formal drug. However, encouraging research in rats points to potential future applications for fecal bacteriotherapy.

For instance, fecal transplants from mice without diabetes reduced insulin resistance in type 2 diabetic animals.

Likewise, some investigations have revealed that mice display anxiety and despair after receiving transplants from their less worried peers and grow calmer. Researchers looking at humans have even begun to identify distinct microbial patterns linked to a variety of gastrointestinal, immunological, oncologic, and even psychiatric illnesses.

Therefore, it appears completely plausible that changing a patient's microbiome could open the door to numerous new therapy options.

What constitutes the "best" gut microbiota or the most useful fecal transplants is still a subject of much research. But for the time being, we can at least affirm that our feces have a promising future.