Researchers conducted a small study with 20 patients at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston from August 2013 to June 2014 with relapsing C. difficile infections. The patients received FMT capsules from prescreened, unrelated donors. The FMT capsules were stored at -112 degrees Fahrenheit.
Patients received 15 capsules on two consecutive days and were tracked for up to six months for adverse events.
Fourteen of the patients (70 percent) experienced resolution of diarrhea after a single capsule-based FMT. The six who did not respond to the first round were re-treated, and four achieved resolution of diarrhea, ending in an overall 90 percent cure rate.
There were no serious adverse events attributed to FMT.
Researchers said that while larger studies are needed to support their findings, the use of capsules for FMT greatly increases the safety and reduces the cost of transplantation by eliminating the need for an invasive procedure.
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