Randomized Trial of Fecal Transplantation in Ulcerative Colitis

The therapeutic potential of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is currently under investigation for a variety of gastrointestinal disorders, including ulcerative colitis (UC).

In the current phase II trial, investigators randomized 50 patients with mild to moderately active UC to receive either healthy donor FMT — two infusions delivered by nasoduodenal tube three weeks apart — or autologous FMT.

At 12 weeks after the first treatment, both clinical and endoscopic endpoints were similar between groups. Responders in each study arm tended to change their bacterial flora composition, unlike nonresponders. In the group who underwent donor FMT, the responders developed microbiota composition similar to the donors. In the group who underwent a…