Fecal transplant tests for intestinal care were interrupted after a patient's death

The FDA has decided to suspend clinical trials of fecal transplants. This technique was used to treat patients suffering from digestive disorders due to an imbalance of the bacterial flora. The death of a patient is the cause of this suspension.

A few years ago, a number of discoveries affirming the importance of the gut microbiota caused a spike in research in this area. The role of this broth of microorganisms in digestion has been known for a long time, but it also ensures the protection of the intestine against infections by other pathogenic microorganisms (especially Clostridium difficile), produces certain fatty acids and vitamins (such as biotin or vitamin K), maintains the intestinal barrier, or allows the degradation of certain nutrients (dietary fiber).

Its imbalance is responsible for important intestinal disorders, such as diarrhea, chronic inflammation, or problems with gastric acidity. The origins often come from the mode of nutrition, or the taking of antibiotics.

But one of the major discoveries that most experts are now interested in is its connection to the nervous system. Indeed, many studies show that a disturbance of the microbiota, and more particularly during childhood, increases the chances of developing neuro-developmental or psychic disorders such as autism or depression.

To treat the many possible disorders, doctors often resort to fecal transplantation, which consists in introducing into the gut of the patient feces obtained from a healthy donor, to promote the return of a balanced intestinal flora thanks to the bacteria present in the stool. The techniques have improved over the years, with ever more promising results.

But the optimism that had been provided so far by this type of treatment was stopped last week after a clinical trial in which a patient died. Another, for his part, fell seriously ill.

The two unfortunates were immunocompromised and had received faeces from the same donor. The stools were only examined after they had been alerted that they did not feel well, and it turned out that they contained a strain ofE.coli MDR.

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The FDA has decided to suspend testing until scientists have put in place a safer fecal testing method before administration. However, the use of this method is likely to be used only in the event of a last resort in the future (in the absence of standard treatments against It's hard for example).

" While we support this area of ​​scientific research, it is important to note that the fecal microbiota for transplantation is not without risk Says Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Evaluation and Research on Biologics.

Source: New York Times