Molecular Microbiology Research Laboratory, Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, King's College London, London, UK.
Epidemiol Infect. 2013 Nov;141(11):2235-42. doi: 10.1017/S0950268813001362. Epub 2013 Jun 5.
The incidence, morbidity, and mortality associated with Clostridium difficile gastrointestinal infections has increased greatly over recent years, reaching epidemic proportions; a trend due, in part, to the emergence of hypervirulent and antibiotic-resistant strains. The need to identify alternative, non-antibiotic, treatment strategies is therefore urgent. The ability of bacteria in faecal matter transplanted from healthy individuals to displace pathogen populations is well recognized. Further, there is growing evidence that such faecal microbiota transplantation can be of benefit in a wide range of conditions associated with gut dysbiosis. Recent technical advances have greatly increased our ability to understand the processes that underpin the beneficial changes in bacterial community composition, as well as to characterize their extent and duration. However, while much of the research into faecal microbiota transplantation focuses currently on achieving clinical efficacy, the potential for such therapies to contribute to the transmission of infective agents also requires careful consideration.
近年来，与艰难梭菌胃肠道感染相关的发病率、患病率和死亡率大大增加，达到了流行程度；这一趋势部分归因于高毒力和抗药性菌株的出现。因此，迫切需要确定替代的非抗生素治疗策略。人们已经充分认识到从健康个体移植的粪便中的细菌有能力取代病原体种群。此外，越来越多的证据表明，这种粪便微生物群移植在与肠道菌群失调相关的广泛疾病中是有益的。最近的技术进步极大地提高了我们理解支持细菌群落组成有益变化的过程的能力，以及描述其程度和持续时间的能力。然而，虽然粪便微生物群移植的大部分研究都集中在实现临床疗效上，但这种疗法有可能导致感染性病原体的传播，这也需要仔细考虑。
