Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for C. Difficile Infection in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients

Clostridium difficile (C.difficile) is a pathogen of major public health importance, especially in individuals with comorbid conditions such as solid organ transplantation (SOT). The incidence and adverse outcomes of CDI are greatly amplified in the setting of SOT, due to healthcare exposure, antibiotic use and immunosuppression, all of which are ubiquitous in SOT recipients. There are currently no effective treatment options to achieve a sustained cure of recurrent CDI and prevent further recurrence in SOT recipients. A novel approach that has recently gained attention is restoration of the CDI impaired gut microbiome by instillation of stool from a healthy donor into the intestine of a CDI patient. This treatment, called Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) has been found in non-comparative studies to reduce CDI recurrence dramatically with a reported efficacy of over 95%, however its efficacy in SOT recipients has not been studied and cannot be extrapolated from results in the non-SOT population because SOT recipients are a unique study population due to profound immunosuppression, frequent antibiotic use and frequent opportunities for exposure to CDI all of which markedly, repeatedly and persistently disrupt the gut microbiome. Thus, this critical gap in the field needs to be addressed by a trial of FMT in SOT recipients with CDI.