Donor characteristics affect fecal microbiota transplantation success

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) can help resolve diarrhea caused by Clostridioides difficile infection. New research shows that factors like donor antibiotic use and stool quality play a significant role in how effective this treatment is. A study conducted in Denmark looked at how donor characteristics affect outcomes for patients undergoing FMT. The research involved 145 donors and 952 patients between 2016 and 2023. It found that if a donor had taken antibiotics in the year before donating, the FMT was less likely to work. In contrast, donors whose stool was classified with higher consistency scores (4 or 5) had better outcomes. The study showed that after eight weeks, FMT successfully resolved diarrhea in 57.3% of cases. Donors with a stool consistency score of 3 had lower success rates than those with scores of 4 or above. Various factors like donor age, sex, and weight did not significantly influence treatment effectiveness. The findings suggest that selecting the right donors could improve FMT results. Researchers hope these insights will lead to better guidelines for fecal donation to enhance treatment for patients with C difficile infection. However, the study had some limitations. The number of donors with certain characteristics was small, and some data may have been incomplete. The authors acknowledged potential biases since some information was based on self-reports. The research was funded by a grant from the Innovation Fund Denmark.