Scientists in Australia are ready to conduct the first clinical trial of fecal microbiota for treatment
GVHD or graft-versus-host diseasethis is a serious, life-threatening complication of hematopoietic cell transplantation (more commonly referred to as bone marrow or stem cell transplantation). GVHD can also occur after allogeneic transplantation. In GVHD, immune cells from the donor's bone marrow attack the organs and tissues of the recipient (the host). The reaction is especially dangerous for people who have had bone marrow transplants to treat cancer.
For patients who develop GVHD inintestines, conventional treatments do not work. Conventional immune-suppressing steroid drugs do not work in half of all patients with this reaction.
Studies have shown that the gut microbiomeis critical to maintaining good health. Also known as the microbiota, this collection of trillions of microorganisms that coexist in a healthy gut stimulates the immune system, protects the body from invading pathogens, and breaks down potentially toxic foods.
Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT or both)sometimes referred to as a “fecal transplant”) is designed to restore gut health by repopulating a patient’s microbiome using fecal bacteria and other microbes from a healthy person. FMT has already proven effective in the treatment of intestinal infections.
“New scientific evidence shows that the microbiomehas a much greater impact on health than previously thought, ”the scientists write. Now, for the first time in Australia, FMT is being tested on blood cancer survivors diagnosed with GVHD. The trial will involve 10 patients who will be followed for a year. Then the study will get bigger.
It is hoped that the pioneering clinical trial will lead to the discovery of the specific microbe responsible for improving GVHD.
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