Fecal Microbiota Transplant: Latest Addition to Arsenal against Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection

Abstract

An infectious disease of the colon, recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (RCDI), is hitherto considered insurmountable leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Gut dysbiosis, generally resulting from frequent use of antibiotics, is considered to be responsible for the etiopathogenesis of RCDI. Ironically, the conventional treatment strategies for the disease also include the use of anti- infective drugs such as metronidazole, vancomycin and fidaxomycin. As a result of the efforts to overcome the limitations of these treatment options to control the recurrence of disease, faecal microbiota transplant (FMT) has emerged as an effective and safe alternative. It is pertinent to add here that FMT is defined as the process of engraftment of fecal suspension from the healthy person into the gastrointestinal tract of the diseased individual aiming at the restoration of gut microbiota. FMT has proved to be quite successful in the treatment of recurrent and resistant Clostridium difficile infections. In the last three decades, a lot of information has been generated on the use of FMT for RCDI. A number of clinical trials have been reported with generally very high success rates. However, a very small number of patents could be found in the area, indicating that there still exists lacuna in the knowledge about FMT with respect to its preparation, regulation, mode of delivery and safety. The current review attempts to dive deeper to discuss the patents available in the area while supporting the information contained therein with the non-patent literature.