The safety and participants' experiences of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT)

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a method that aims in restoring the gut microbiota from an imbalanced state, dysbiosis. Previous literature shows that while using FMT in treating different diseases is generally safe, it does cause adverse events (AEs). In addition, although many studies have shown that participants see FMT as a natural treatment, some emphasize the participants’ concerns about the safety and grossness of FMT. This thesis assesses the safety of lyophilized, autologous FMT administered as oral capsules in healthy participants after being treated with a course of antibiotics and explores the participants’ perceptions of FMT and experiences of AUTOFLOR clinical trial. Safety was assessed by measuring biomarkers from the blood and the feces and self-reported number of AEs, and the participants’ experiences were studied with an electronical questionnaire. The safety analyses included all participants (n=21), and the experiences and perceptions were analyzed from all who answered the questionnaire (n=18). The number of reported AEs was moderate, but the effect the AEs had on the participants’ daily life was mild. There were significantly more AEs reported during the first intervention period (p=0.0002). Although blood and fecal biomarker exceeded clinical reference limits at some time points, they were not associated with the number of reported AEs. Most of the participants had good prior knowledge of the treatment. Main issues reported about FMT by the minority of the participants were its repulsiveness and inconvenience, which were partly associated with its autologous nature. Participants reported being highly willing to use FMT in the future, or recommend it to others, for managing conditions that can’t be treated with medication. These findings suggest that while the participants consider FMT a promising and natural treatment option, its way of administration and other practicalities still seem to require development, if we want to make it easier for the participants to approach, which is essential in planning future FMT clinical trials and perhaps even more widespread clinical use.