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Stool transplant can now treat severe alcoholic hepatitits, according to successfully completed study bt researchers at Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS). The process involved delivery of pre-screened, healthy stool to a patient from a relative.
According to a report in the Times of India, the result of the research, which has been published in the latest issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, shows 87.5 per cent of such patients survived for over a year compared to 33.3 per cent of those receiving standard treatment.
The hospital got 195 patients with alcoholic liver disease from December 2014 to February 2015 when the study was conducted, said Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, the lead researcher. Of this, 51 had severe alcoholic hepatitis in which one-month survival chance is less than 50 per cent and 38 were steroid ineligible, which reduces survival chance even further. They were offered stool transplant as a rescue therapy in the absence of any other option and eight patients gave consent, Dr Philips said.
Each patient was given pre-screened and sterilised stool and the same was put into his small and large intestine via a nasal tube for seven days, said Dr S K Sarin, director of ILBS. "Indices of liver disease severity improved significantly within the first week compared to those who received standard therapy," he said.
The positive effect continued and during a median follow-up of 355 days, ascites (abnormal accumulation of fluid in abdominal cavity) was seen to resolve in five (57.1 per cent) and hepatic encephalopathy (decline in brain function as a result of severe liver disease) in six (71.4 per cent) patients.
Stool has a massive reserve of bacteria and it helps modulate gut microbiota in patients suffering from severe alcoholic hepatitis, said Dr Sarin, explaining the science behind this success.
Every year, 1 lakh people die in India due to liver failure. Of this, many patients suffer from alcoholic liver diseases where steroid administration or organ transplants are only treatment options. Both are costly and come with the risk of complications. Stool transplant, on the other hand, is a cheap procedure, costing a few thousands only.
