24 Apr Fecal Transplantation Reduced Hospitalizations and Improved Cognitive Function in Cirrhosis Trial

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Bajaj

Jasmohan S. Bajaj, M.D.
Virginia Commonwealth University
Associate Professor
Department of Internal Medicine
Division of Gastroenterology

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Hepatic encephalopathy is a devastating complication of cirrhosis, which often recurs despite standard of care therapy with lactulose and rifaximin. This has a basis in an altered gut milieu therefore we need to change that in a more meaningful way to help patients. This was an FDA-monitored Phase I safety study of Fecal microbiome transfer (FMT) using a rationally-derived donor compared to standard of care.

We found that FMT was safe and was associated with lower all-cause and hepatic encephalopathy-related hospitalizations over 5 months compared to standard of care.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: There are gut-based alternatives in patients with recurrent hepatic encephalopathy but these need to be studied in larger numbers.
For now Fecal microbiome transfer remains investigational in this population.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Response: We are going to initiate a trial with oral capsules instead of the enema used in this trial to determine if that will work as well.

MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Response: This trial was partly supported by the VA Merit review and the materials were provided by OpenBiome Inc.

MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.

Citation:

Abstract presented at the 2017 European Association for the Study of the Liver. “Fecal microbiota transplants improve cognitive impairment caused by severe liver disease: Fecal microbiome transfer significantly reduced the number of hospitalizations compared to standard of care treatment.”
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Last Updated on April 24, 2017 by Marie Benz MD FAAD