The effect of fecal microbial transplantation in a pediatric patient after 28 episodes of febrile urinary tract infection
Recurrent febrile urinary tract infections (fUTIs) in children can lead to serious complications such as renal scarring and progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD), with growing evidence indicating that gut microbiome dysbiosis may play a key role in their development. Fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) is an established therapeutic approach for restoring gut microbial balance; however, its use in patients with recurrent fUTIs remains limited and underexplored. This case study describes a 10-year-old boy with recurrent fUTIs and CKD secondary to a posterior urethral valve (PUV) anomaly. The patient was administered a total of seven doses of FMT. FMT reduced pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae, increased beneficial short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing genera, and correspondingly raised SCFA levels, indicating restoration of gut microbiota balance. FMT presents an innovative therapeutic option for pediatric patients with recurrent fUTIs, demonstrating outstanding clinical outcomes.
Authors
- Viktor Bielik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9525-4983)
- Paul J. Planet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0543-0539)
- Eva Baranovičová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1357-9368)
- Ivan Hric
- Barbora Piteková (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8765-9179)
- Jakub Zieg
Institutions
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (US)
- Slovak Medical University (SK)
- Charles University (CZ)
- National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (SK)
- University Hospital in Motol (CZ)
- Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK)
- Comenius University Bratislava (SK)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Pediatric Nephrology
- Published
- 2025-05-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-025-06822-1
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Pediatric Urology and Nephrology Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 13.98
Funders
- Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave
- Ministerstvo školstva, vedy, výskumu a športu Slovenskej republiky
- Agentúra Ministerstva Školstva, Vedy, Výskumu a Športu SR