Restoration of the Original Inhabitants: A Systematic Review on Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Graft-Versus-Host Disease

Abstract

A compelling intervention to maintain healthy gut microbiota in graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) is fecal microbial transplantation (FMT). To examine its role in GVHD, we conducted a systemic literature search using multiple electronic databases. Upon pooling of data, 79 patients from six studies and five case reports were included. Complete remission (CR) occurred in 55.9% of patients, and partial remission (PR) occurred in 26.5% of patients (82.4% overall response rate). A limited number of patients had treatment-related mortality (TRM), while few showed mild gastrointestinal (GI)-related and non-GI adverse effects. None of the studies directly examined the role of FMT in the prevention of GVHD. In conclusion, FMT seems to be a safe and effective strategy for the management of GVHD based on the current evidence. Due to the small number of patients evaluated and the absence of randomized data, one cannot portray FMT as a standard of care yet; however, the low toxicity along with the clinical improvement justifies this modality to be tested in a randomized fashion.