Fecal microbiota transplantation brought about a 32 percent remission rate for people suffering from the chronic bowel condition, researchers report. Photo by Devious Pipe/Wikimedia Commons

Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Fecal microbiota transplantation has shown success in treating patients with ulcerative colitis, researchers report.

FMT brought about a 32 percent remission rate for people suffering from the chronic bowel condition, new findings published Tuesday in JAMA have shown.


"The most important difference in this trial compared to previous studies is the use of anaerobic (oxygen-free) stool processing," study leader Sam Costello, a gastroenterologist at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital at the University of Adelaide's Medical School and study lead author, said in a news release. "Many gut bacteria die with exposure to oxygen and we know that with anaerobic stool processing a large number of donor bacteria survive so that they can be administered to the patient."

The procedure placed anaerobically processed pooled donor FMT in patients through a colonoscopy.

Current treatments for ulcerative colitis successfully suppress the condition, but often come with side effects like infection and malignancy.

UK company Microbiotica has been tapped to promote more research and development of a microbial therapeutic from the study.

"These will have bacteria in a pill that can carry out the therapeutic effect without the need to take whole feces," Costello said. "This is obviously a better and less smelly option."

An estimated 3 million people in the United States have irritable bowel disease, which is either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis

People with IBD are likely to have other conditions like cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, cancer, arthritis, kidney disease and liver disease.