人類菌群移植

腸胃疾病,如艱難梭菌感染(CDI)是很危險和嚴重的。他們影響到數千名香港、以及數十萬名其他亞洲城市的患者,遭受日常症狀的痛苦。

也許你聽說過糞菌移植(FMT)。這項在2013年“新英格蘭醫學雜誌”上進行了醫學臨床試驗的研究和發表的新型臨床療法。在這項試驗中,醫生成功地治癒了16名荷蘭患有嚴重複發性艱難梭菌的患者。

要進行FMT,臨床醫生和糞便銀行從健康供體中取出糞便,並將糞便加工成均質溶液,以植入病人體內。加工的FMT處理儲存在-80℃以保護供體的獨特的共生細菌群落。研究認為使用FMT可以恢復由於過度使用抗生素或潛在的致病原因而導致丟失保護性的多樣性細菌不平衡。

視頻:糞菌移植如何拯救生命

FMT vs. HMT PROCESSING

Human Microbiota Transplant, or HMT®, is the next generation of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT), a novel treatment in clinical use that is shown to be over 90% effective for treating C. difficile infection in patients who are unresponsive to traditional antibiotic therapy. 

HMT’s add several steps to the processing methodology of an FMT to remove a much larger portion of the undigested food particulate in the feces and to preserve as much of the bacterial community as possible in an anaerobic environment.

Donor Screening

FMT

Standard Donor Screening

HMT

Enhanced Donor Screening: Whole Genome Next Generation Metagenomic Sequencing to ensure key cornerstone bacterial species presence, diversity comparison against the average population, and additional buffer against presence of pathogenic bacteria and organisms

Stool Collection

FMT

Sterile Container

HMT

  • Custom Sterile Container
  • Suspension Buffer to Preserve Microbiota
  • Date and Time Stamp for Quality Control.
Processing

FMT

Homogenize, Filter to 330 micron

HMT

Homogenize in a cooled environment

Filter to 330 micron

Double Centrifuge

Storage

FMT & HMT

Filling into container (bottle or capsule)

Storage at -80C

Similar to FMTs, HMTs can be administered by clinicians in the form of Colonoscope, Endoscope, enema or capsule.

To learn more about how clinicians can sign-up to become a client, click here.

To learn more about how to become a donor, click here.

Safety

Safety of fecal based bacteriotherapies are primarily based on the health of the stool donors. We employ vigorous donor screening metrics, adverse event tracking, and a 60-day quarantine period to ensure that all of our HMTs are as free of pathogenic organisms as possible.

Our donor screening criteria is based off of the excellent standards laid out by international stool banks in the US and Europe, with additional criteria added for pathogenic organisms, generalized inflammation due to unknown causes, and digestive health. First, a donor must pass a 100-point questionnaire. Next, a donor must pass a comprehensive health check-up, comprising of more than 50 items being checked for in the blood and stool samples of the potential donor. This donor screening process is the most rigorous of any stool bank globally.

Download a free copy of our safety brochure or view the chart below for a quick summary. (coming soon)

Efficacy

Human Microbiota Therapy (HMT) has been used as a therapy for gastrointestinal diseases for decades, but only recently has become the object of focused study and application. Currently, fecal microbiota transplant or HMT is being used in dozens of countries around the world, including the US, UK, Australia and Israel, as a treatment for Clostridium Difficile infection (CDI). FMT is generally effective more than 90 percent of the time as a treatment for CDI. In the US, the FDA has allowed clinicians to provide FMT to recurrent C. difficile patients.

Currently, FMT is also being researched as a treatment for many gastrointestinal related diseases, including Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis), Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and other chronic digestive diseases. Medical clinics and FMT treatment centers in the UK and Australia have reported cases of successfully treating these diseases and conditions.

The leading US based stool bank has summarized some of the research done on FMT and published it on their website here.

If you are considering HMT therapy as a patient, please consult with your doctor to determine if this is the right treatment for you or contact us directly so that we may refer to you to a qualified medical professional for your consultation.

DISCLAIMER: There is a wealth of information available online about HMT, most often referred to as Fecal Microbiota Transfer. Not all of the information is accurate or safe, so please use caution in your reading. We do not endorse DIY therapy FMT.