A meta-analysis presented at the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, highlighted the potential benefits of Intestinal Microbiota Transplant (IMT), also known as fecal microbiota transplant (FMT), in treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
The study, led by Dr. Ifrah Fatima from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, found that IMT significantly improved clinical response and remission in IBD patients compared to standard treatments. However, no significant improvement was observed in endoscopic remission. The analysis included 10 randomized control trials and showed that IMT was particularly effective for patients with ulcerative colitis but not for those with Crohn’s disease. Dr. Tauseef Ali, who was not involved in the study, emphasized the need for larger scale studies with standardized formulations to further evaluate the benefits of IMT in IBD treatment.