Awareness and attitude of fecal microbiota transplantation through transendoscopic enteral tubing among inflammatory bowel disease patients

BACKGROUND Transendoscopic enteral tubing(TET)has been used in China as a novel delivery route for fecal microbiota transplantation(FMT)into the whole colon with a high degree of patient satisfaction among adults.AIM To explore the recognition and attitudes of FMT through TET in patients with inflammatory bowel disease(IBD).METHODS An anonymous questionnaire,evaluating their awareness and attitudes toward FMT and TET was distributed among IBD patients in two provinces of Eastern and Southwestern China.Question formats included single-choice questions,multiple-choice questions and sorting questions.Patients who had not undergone FMT were mainly investigated for their cognition and acceptance of FMT and TET.Patients who had experience of FMT,the way they underwent FMT and acceptance of TET were the main interest.Then all the patients were asked whether they would recommend FMT and TET.This study also analyzed the preference of FMT delivery in IBD patients and the patient-related factors associated with it.RESULTS A total of 620 eligible questionnaires were included in the analysis.The survey showed that 44.6%(228/511)of patients did not know that FMT is a therapeutic option in IBD,and 80.6%(412/511)of them did not know the concept of TET.More than half(63.2%,323/511)of the participants stated that they would agree to undergo FMT through TET.Of the patients who underwent FMT via TET[62.4%(68/109)],the majority[95.6%(65/68)]of them were satisfied with TET.Patients who had undergone FMT and TET were more likely to recommend FMT than patients who had not(94.5%vs 86.3%,P=0.018 and 98.5%vs 87.8%,P=0.017).Patients’choice for the delivery way of FMT would be affected by the type of disease and whether the patient had the experience of FMT.When compared to patients without experience of FMT,Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis patients who had experience of FMT preferred mid-gut TET(P<0.001)and colonic TET(P<0.001),respectively.CONCLUSION Patients’experience of FMT through TET lead them to maintain a positive attitude towards FMT.The present findings highlighted the significance of patient education on FMT and TET.

Washed microbiota transplantation vs.manual fecal microbiota transplantation:clinical findings,animal studies and in vitro screening

Fecal microbiota transplantation(FMT)by manual preparation has been applied to treat diseases for thousands of years.However,this method still endures safety risks and challenges the psychological endurance and acceptance of doctors,patients and donors.Population evidence showed the washed microbiota preparation with microfiltration based on an automatic purification system followed by repeated centrifugation plus suspension for three times significantly reduced FMT-related adverse events.This washing preparation makes delivering a precise dose of the enriched microbiota feasible,instead of using the weight of stool.Intraperitoneal injection in mice with the fecal microbiota supernatant obtained after repeated centrifugation plus suspension for three times induced less toxic reaction than that by the first centrifugation following the microfiltration.The toxic reactions that include death,the change in the level of peripheral white blood cells,and the proliferation of germinal center in secondary lymphoid follicles in spleen were noted.The metagenomic next-generation sequencing(NGS)indicated the increasing types and amount of viruses could be washed out during the washing process.Metabolomics analysis indicated metabolites with pro-inflammatory effects in the fecal microbiota supernatant such as leukotriene B4,corticosterone,and prostaglandin G2 could be removed by repeated washing.Near-infrared absorption spectroscopy could be served as a rapid detection method to control the quality of the washingprocess.In conclusion,this study for the first time provides evidence linking clinical findings and animal experiments to support that washed microbiota transplantation(WMT)is safer,more precise and more quality-controllable than the crude FMT by manual.

Washed microbiota transplantation improves the fertility of patients with inflammatory bowel disease

To the Editor:Female patients with inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)have lower fertility rates and take longer time to conceive than the healthy population.How to improve the fertility in patients with IBD is a critical challenge.