Faecal Microbiota Transplantation Research at the Clínic

Notable projects and lines of research 

A change in faecal microbiota has been documented in certain diseases, and it’s being studied if correcting this alteration leads to an improvement in the patient's condition. For example, our centre is studying whether faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) can help: 

• Reduce recurrent urinary infections. 
• Remove resistant bacteria from the digestive tract. 
• Treat liver cirrhosis complications; as it seems that microbiota plays an important role in the decompensation of patients with cirrhosis and in hepatic encephalopathy, one of its main complications. 
• Treat ulcerative colitis. The Clínic currently leads a national multicentre project focused on FMT as treatment for this disease. 

Significant contributions from the group 

The Faecal Transplantation group at Hospital Clínic Barcelona has participated in preparing “Recommendations for the selection of faeces donors”. It has also published its experience in creating an intestinal microbiota bank to facilitate the implementation of FMT in hospitals and has patented a new oral capsule formulation for the administration of FMT (WO/2020/212297). 

The team also actively participates in teaching activities, such as presentations and scientific communications at both gastroenterology and infectious disease specialist conferences.