Faecal Microbiota Transplantation for the decolonisation of MDROs
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Faecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) for decolonisation of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms (MDROs)
IRAS ID
246960
Contact name
Mark Thursz
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) defined as a microorganisms that are resistant to one of more classes of antimicrobial agents. When MDROs colonise the human body, this can have consequences on both the individual and hospital. Colonised patients are at higher risk of invasive infection from these resistant organisms. Mortality is higher in these patients due to the inability of first line antibiotics being effective, and requiring use of second or third line therapy which does not work as well and can be toxic. Hospitals are required to take extra precautions to halt the spread from patient to patient, including side room isolation and deep cleaning and outbreak investigation when there is transmission from one individual to the other of drug resistant organisms. There is currently no widely accepted method by which we can decolonise patients. It is understood that faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) (i.e. the extraction of bacteria from the faeces of healthy donors, and delivery of these bacteria into the gut of affected patients) plays a role in restoring protective bacteria within the gut microbiome. There is growing evidence from case series studies that FMT may be a viable treatment for decolonization of MDROs but no studies have explored the mechanisms underlying this.
We hypothesize that faecal microbiota transplant has a protective effect against patients who are colonized with MDRO (multidrug resistant organisms). We have already received a large grant from the Biomedical Research Council for this project. To assess this further, we intend to use patient samples to analyse the differences in the gut microbial and metabolite profiles between healthy people and patients who those colonized with MDRO before and after they undergo FMT to attempt MDRO eradication. Successful decolonisation will decrease the risk of invasive disease and lower the incidence of patient-to-patient transfer.REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/0112
Date of REC Opinion
1 Mar 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion