From: Effect of fecal microbiota transplant on symptoms of psychiatric disorders: a systematic review
Study | Sample characteristics | Study design | Intervention | Donor | Measurement | Key findings and conclusions |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cai et al. 2019 [66] | 1 female MDD patient, 79 years old | Pre- and post-intervention assessment | Single time FMT via gastroscope | 6 year-old grandson | PHQ-9 | • Six months after intervention PHQ-9 scores improved. |
• Significant increase in Firmicutes counts and Bacteroides significant reduced | ||||||
De Clerq et al. 2019 [67] | 1 female AN patient, 26 years old | Case report, pre- and post-intervention assessment | Single duodenal FMT | Unrelated female donor with BMI of 25 | BMI, caloric intake | • Increase in BMI post-intervention |
• No significant differences in gut microbiota composition after FMT | ||||||
Huang et al. 2019 [45] | 30 (18 M, 12F) refractory IBS patients, Mean age: 44 years old | Pre- and post intervention assessment with 1, 3, and 6 month follow-ups | Two to three FMT procedures (done every other day) via colonoscopy | Healthy volunteers aged 8–35 | IBS-QOL, IBS-SSS, GSRS, HAM-A and HAM-D | • Significantly improved GI symptoms and alleviated depression and anxiety as indicated by IBS-QOL, IBS-SSS, GSRS, HAM-A and HAM-D scores, 1 and 3 months post-FMT |
• Increase in Verrucomincrobia and Euryarchaeota at phyla level and increase in Methanobrevibacter and Akkermansia at the genus level, at 1 month after FMT compared to before FMT | ||||||
Mazzawi et al. [46] | 13 (9 M, 4F) IBS patients, Mean age: 32 years old | Open label, pilot study | Single duodenal FMT via gastroscope | Healthy donors, aged 20–42 | IBS-SQ, IBS-SSS, EPQ-N-12, and HAD | • Scores of all questionnaires improved significantly at all follow-up time points and lasted up to 28 weeks |
• Patients’ microbiota compositions became more similar to donors after FMT | ||||||
Mizuno et al. 2017 [44] | 10 (7 M, 3F) refractory IBS patients, Mean age: 40.1 years old | Single arm, open label, non-randomized study with 12-week follow-up | Single time FMT via colonoscopy | Healthy relatives in second-degree relationship, Mean age: 52 years | HAM-A, HAM-D | • The HAM-D score significantly improved 4 weeks after FMT but returned to the baseline level at 12 weeks |
• When evaluated with HAM-A, the GI symptoms significantly improved from before FMT to 12 weeks after in responders, but not in non-responders | ||||||
• Significant increase in microbial diversity from before treatment to week 4 | ||||||
• Significant relationship between diversity and response to treatment at week 4 but not before treatment | ||||||
Xie et al. 2019 [47] | 1 male MDD patient with alopecia and GI symptoms, 86 years old | Case report, pre- and post-intervention assessment | Six rounds of FMT via colonoscopy | 22-year old healthy male donor | HAM-D | • Improved depressive symptoms |
• Improved appetite and no abdominal pain or distension, increased BMI. | ||||||
• Improved hair growth without any hair loss treatments | ||||||
Kurokawa et al. 2018 [48] | 17 (8 M, 9F) IBS patients, Mean age: 43.41 | Single arm, non-randomized, open label, observational study | Single time FMT, via colonoscopy | Healthy relatives in second-degree relationship, Mean age: 51.41 years | HAM-D and subscale of sleep-related items, HAM-A, and QIDS | • Significant improvement in HAM-D total and sleep subscale score, HAM-A, and QIDS after FMT, at times even without GI symptoms improvement |
• Significant increase in microbiome diversity after FMT | ||||||
Johnsen et al. 2020 [49] | 85 IBS (non-constipated) patients between 18 and 75 years of age | Double-blind, Randomized Controlled Trial, Parallel group | FMT (frozen or fresh) using health donors or using patient’s own feces, delivered to cecum of IBS patients via colonoscope | Frozen or fresh feces from healthy donors | Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS), IBS-QoL, IBS-SSS | • Clinical effect on QoL and fatigue six months after treatment, with waning effect from six to twelve months, |
• Transient treatmnet effect seen in individuals with other functional disorders. | ||||||
• Absence of other self reported functional disorders and presence of depression at baseline is suggested to predict a lasting effect of FMT in QoL and fatigue, respectively |