In search of a superdonor
New Zealand doctors found "super donors" for fecal transplantation
Sergey Vasiliev, Naked Science
Transferring the microflora of healthy people into the intestines of patients promises to get rid of some incurable diseases, but some of them will have to find a "super donor".
A relatively new and still far from generally accepted procedure of fecal transplantation – the transfer of lyophilized cultures of microflora from the intestines of a healthy donor to the intestines of a patient – demonstrates remarkable results in the treatment of such severe and poorly amenable to other methods of diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome or pseudomembranous colitis.
Recent studies have shown that in some cases (as with pseudomembranous colitis), the normalization of the microflora and the result of treatment do not depend much on the characteristics of the donor. However, in others – for example, with ulcerative colitis – the donor definitely matters, and the effectiveness of the drugs received from him may differ significantly. The work of Justin O'Sullivan and his colleagues from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, published in the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology (Wilson et al., The Super-Donor Phenomenon in Fecal Microbiota Transplantation), is devoted to this problem.
Scientists note that the preparations of "superdonors" are distinguished by a wide variety of bacterial mycloflora. And if in some cases the treatment of the disease requires microbes widely represented in different donors, then other disorders need a certain type of them or the substance they produce, and such bacteria may not occur at all. "Whether a person will be a 'super donor',– says O'Sullivan, –depends on what kind of disease you want to cure" (in a University of Auckland press release with the humorous headline Are you a super pooper? – VM).
Thus, a certain "compatibility" must be observed between a healthy donor and a patient during the fecal transplantation procedure. Moreover, O'Sullivan and colleagues have shown that the final effectiveness of treatment will be determined by the diet that will need to be followed after the transplant.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru