The Route to Palatable Fecal Microbiota Transplantation

The community of symbiotic microorganisms that reside in our gastrointestinal tract is integral to human health. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been shown to be highly effective in treating recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI) and is now recommended by medical societies for patients suffering from rCDI who have failed to respond to conventional therapy. The main challenges with FMT are its accessibility, acceptability, lack of standardization, and regulatory complexity, which will be discussed in this review. Access to FMT is being addressed through the development of frozen and lyophilized FMT preparations that can be prepared at stool banks and shipped to the point of care. Both access and patient acceptance would be enhanced by oral FMT capsules, and there is potential to reduce capsule burden by utilizing colonic release capsules, targeting the site of disease. This review compares the efficacy of different FMT routes of administration: capsules, nasal feeding tubes, enemas, and colonoscopic infusions. FMT is considered investigational by the Food and Drug Administration. In effort to improve access to FMT, physicians may perform FMT outside of an investigational new drug application for treating CDI infections not responsive to standard therapies. The majority of FMT studies report only minor adverse effects; however, there is risk of transmission of infections.