Remarkable findings show POO transplants from thin people could help fatties shed pounds
A new study has shown people having poo transplants to treat C-difficile lost weight after donations from people with healthy BMIs
POO transplants could one day be used to help fat people shed weight after scientists found the grim-sounding therapy works.
The treatment, known by it's medical name a faecal microbiota transplant, is already used to tackle extreme cases of the superbug C-difficile.
Studies have also linked the procedure to other conditions including diabetes and autism.
But two new pieces of research suggest it may offer a new cure for obesity.
Scientists presenting their findings at Digestive Disease Week, a scientific meeting in the US, explored the issue, .
They build on experiments in mice, which found poo transplanted from one mouse to another caused the recipient mouse to gain or lose weight.
The procedure is thought to affect the gut microbiome, or balance of "good" and "bad" bacteria in the intestines.
A growing body of scientific evidence has, in recent years, linked the gut microbiome to a range of serious diseases, including obesity.
FMT cannot be performed at home, it is scientific procedure that can only be done by a scientists.
A stool sample is taken from a healthy donor, who has been tested to check for harmful bugs.
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Once they have been cleared as having the right gut bacteria, their stools are mixed with saline.
That is strained and then placed into the patient, via a colonoscopy, endoscopy or enema.
In both of the new studies patients infected with the recurrent superbug C-diff were treated with FMT.
They received transplants from healthy donors.
In one of the experiments, carried out at the University of Miami, scientists found the average BMI of patients fell from 28.9 before the transplant to 27.4 one to three months afterwards.
WHAT IS A POO TRANSPLANT?
Faecal microbiota transplant, or FMT, is a recognised procedure, used by doctors in a small number of cases to treat recurrent superbug C.diff infections.
It is only used when other treatments, such as long-term antibiotics, have failed.
How is it performed?
The treatment should only ever be performed by a qualified doctor.
It involves collecting a stool sample from a donor, who is tested to ensure they carry no harmful bugs and have the correct bacteria in their digestive tracts to help combat the bug.
The sample is then mixed with saline, strained and placed into the patient via a colonoscopy, endoscopy or an enema.
How does it work?
FMT aims to replace good bacteria that has been killed or suppressed, often by the use of antibiotics.
This killing of good bacteria allows bad bacteria, specifically C.diff, to over-populate the colon.
The infection can then lead to a condition called C.diff colitis, which causes painful and sometimes fatal diarrhoea.
By restoring the balance of bacteria in the intestines, the idea is that the patient will be better able to fight infection.
Who can be a donor?
Donors can be family members, or others who are known to you.
But, they must:
- be tested for a wide array of bacterial and parasitic infections
- be free of health problems
- lead a healthy lifestyle
Donors are screened for a range of infectious diseases, including HIV, hepatitis A, B and C and syphilis.
Source: Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital
The researchers also discovered that those who were fatter before the transplant lost the most weight and continued to lose weight up to a year after the procedure.
But Dr Valery Muenyi, a resident physician at the University of Miami and the lead author of the study, told Live Science that research into poo transplants and weight loss is still in its early stages.
She did note that those who lost weight had not made any changes to their diet after the transplant.
However, the second new study did not show the same trend.
Instead, a team at the University of Indianna School of Medicine, said poo transplants had no effect on a person's BMI.
They gave 70 patients poo transplants to treat C-diff infections.
The overweight or obese patients were given a transplant from donors with a healthy BMI.
The researchers said in the six months before the transplant the patients lost weight, a common side effect of C-diff.
But a year later there was no change in their BMI, and some patients had actually gained weight.
Lead author Dr Monika Fischer concluded that it was "highly unlikely" a person would gain or lose weight following a poo transplant.
In the past, promising findings have suggested FMT will be a successful treatment for obesity.
A 2015 case reported described how a 32-year-old woman who was given a poo transplant to treat C-diff, became obese very soon afterwards.
Her donor was her overweight daughter.
At the time of her transplant in 2011, the mum's weight was stable at nine-and-a-half stone, and her BMI was 26 (healthy BMI is up to 25).
But 16 months after the procedure her weight skyrocketed to 12 stone and her BMI increased to 33 - classifying her as obese.
Three years after her transplant the woman weighed 12-and-a-half stone, and her BMI reached 34.5.
The findings suggested the reverse might be true, and that transplants from healthy donors could help obese or overweight people lose weight.
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