Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) as a treatment option for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is emerging, but early studies have led to high expectations. Essential to the success of FMT is the extraction and preservation of gut bacterial flora. Protocols are still in the examination stage and being standardized; however, it has been shown that freeze storage of bacterial extracts is possible. Progress is also being made in recognizing and optimizing factors that may influence the success of FMT as a treatment for IBS including the selection process of identifying the recipient and the donor, the setup criteria of the control group in experimental studies, and the method of administering the transplant. These and other factors are currently being studied to improve the efficacy of FMT in the future.