An evaluation of the therapeutic potential of fecal microbiota transplantation to treat infectious and metabolic diseases

Abstract

Fecal microbiota transplantation ( FMT ) has had a long history in medicine for treating a number of human diseases. As early as during the 4 th century BC , FMT was used in China to treat patients with food poisoning and diarrhea. Over time, the method became obsolete, particularly after the realization that hygiene plays an important role in preventing infectious diseases. It was not until the late 1950s that FMT garnered interest again when the first reports about its use to treat fulminant enterocolitis appeared in the scientific literature. However, FMT 's breakthrough as the method of choice for the treatment of persistent Clostridium difficile infection ( CDI ) came only after a double‐blind randomized trial (van Nood et al , ), which demonstrated 94% efficacy of FMT compared with 31% after conservative treatment with vancomycin.