Good bacteria from poop stop resistant infection
Pills fashioned from beneficial microbes in feces overcome C. difficile
By Nathan Seppa
SAN FRANCISCO — A hold-your-nose treatment in which doctors use human feces as a colonic transplant has taken a turn that skirts its obvious drawback: the “ick” factor of getting such an enema. By gleaning the healthy bacteria from feces and wrapping them in coated capsules, researchers have created an odorless treatment for intestinal infections that may be just as good as the poopy one.
Early results show that the capsules have cured 32 people infected with drug-resistant Clostridium difficile, a dangerous microbe that installs itself in the gut and causes inflammation marked by diarrhea, cramping and pain.Thomas Louie, an infectious disease physician at the University of Calgary in Alberta, presented the data on October 3 at ID Week, a meeting of infectious disease specialists. Louie’s research team used filtration to capture the good bacteria from feces, which in most cases came from a family member of the patient. The bacteria were then encapsulated with a coating so that they could pass through the stomach and reach the intestines.