A recent study has found that fecal transplantation of bacteria from one healthy donor into patients that suffer from hepatic encephalopathy (decline in brain function due to severe liver disease), is safe and improves cognitive function compared with standard of care treatment for the condition.
Presented at The International Liver Congress 2017 in Amsterdam, researchers demonstrated that the number of hospitalisations following fecal transplantation plus antibiotics was two, compared to the standard of care arm (lactulose and rifaximin), which was 11 (IQR 83 days). Specifically, there was a significant reduction in hospitalisations due to recurrent hepatic encephalopathy (six in the standard of care and none in the fecal transplant arm).
In the study, fecal transplant plus antibiotic treatment was well tolerated without any serious side effects. Furthermore, it was found that the fecal transplant plus antibiotic therapy restored antibiotic-associated changes in the body’s bacterial composition.
