Faecal Microbiota Transplant: A New Biologic Frontier in Medicine

Abstract

Faecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) refers to the process of introducing the gut microbiome into a compromised patient’s Gastrointestinal (GI) tract after obtaining it from a healthy donor. It is one of the chief treatment options for people afflicted with a chronic Clostridium difficile infection. Recently, other possible applications of FMT have been gaining worldwide consideration as an emerging approach to treat a multitude of disorders, such as metabolic syndrome, neurological diseases like autism, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), and so on. FMT is not currently being used in clinical practice due to practical objections though research on how to overcome the same is ongoing. This article seeks to explore FMT as a procedure, its current indication and the results from various studies, applications of FMT as a course of treatment in other diseases, and the limitations that the procedure poses for the same, upon which further studies can commence and advancements can be made in the field of medicine.