Imagine a pilot study for an IBD biological* treatment that had:

• No serious side effects
• Required 5 days to administer (about an hour a day)
• Produced clinical remission in 3 out 10 pediatric patients with ulcerative colitis
• Resulted in continued remission for 4 weeks after the treatment

The good news: these are the actual results for a fecal transplant study conducted at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI and released in late April.

The stool samples, from a 1st degree relative, were blended with saline, filtered through gauze, and administered via enema.  (Don't try this at home--more in the next post.)

Here's a further look at the stats:

• 10 patients enrolled, ages 7 to 21
• 9 completed the study (1 could not hold the enema)
• 7 out of 9 showed a positive clinical response
• 3 of these 7 went into remission
• 6 out of 7 positive responders maintained the improvements 4 weeks later--this includes 3 remaining in remission

These types of results, especially the lack of serious side effects, could literally change standard IBD treatment.  None of the mainstream** IBD treatments purposely targets the gut flora.

With this pilot study complete, and more studies surely underway, the hoped for obsolescence of this site*** will perhaps speed up.

* The study noted: "When used to treat a disease, human stool constitutes a drug and a biologic. Therefore, an Investigational New Drug approval (IND#14993) was obtained from the United States Food and Drug Administration ..." ** Off the mainstream, gut flora targeting approaches include (a) the SCD, GAPS, and similar diets; (b) parasitic work therapy; and (c) fecal transplants.

*** Would diet in combination with the transplants improve the health of the study's non-responders, or further help those who did better but did not each remission?

more information: - Abstract: Safety, Tolerability, and Clinical Response after Fecal Transplantation in Children and Young Adults with Ulcerative Colitis