Scientists want to create a bank of feces. They believe that the healthy bacteria found in the stool offer greater potential than blood from the umbilical cord.
Researchers suggest that in the not-too-distant future, fecal microbial transplants could reverse the aging process.
Feces banks for the rich who want to rejuvenate
The suggestion, made by a team at Harvard Medical School in the journal Trends in Molecular Medicine experts say that fecal bacteria could be key to treating conditions such as asthma, multiple sclerosis and diabetes.
And it could also treat obesity and aging in the future, experts believe.
They imagine people storing feces when they are young to help reverse aging later in life. But storage costs will be very high and this will probably make this option only for the rich.
Intestinal health researchers want to create a stool test bench, similar to what is already being done with umbilical cord blood.
They believe that fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) – the transfer of healthy bacteria found in stools – offers “greater potential” than umbilical cord blood that is rich in stem cells and can be used to treat some types of cancerimmune system deficiencies and certain genetic disorders.
Fecal transplants are currently used
FMTs are already used to treat recurrent bacterial intestinal infections, such as Clostridium difficile.
These bacteria are normally delivered through a tube inserted directly into the stomach through the nose. But they can also be deposited directly in the colon by surgery or swallowed with a pill.
The transplant itself is created by a stool sample from a donor who goes through numerous health checks to make sure he or she has no disease.
In the UK, donors can receive £ 10 per donation, while in the US people can get $ 50 (£ 41.30) per sample from some private clinics.
Dr. Yang-Yu Liu, one of the scientists who supports the need for fecal banks, explained that the benefits of transplanting intestinal bacteria using stool samples collected from people when they were young and healthy are still being debated.
“The idea of ’wild’ human microbiome has grown in recent years and has been hotly debated from a medical, ethical and evolutionary perspective.
It is not yet known whether people in industrialized societies can obtain certain health benefits by restoring their microbiome to an ancestral state, “said the researcher.
But experts believe that now is the time to develop banks where young people can store their feces, waiting for future discoveries.
They imagine that this is similar to how some parents store stem cell-rich blood found in the umbilical cord, although it is estimated that only one in 200,000 children will ever have to use such a cord sample.
Given the role of intestinal bacteria in things such as obesity, heart health and aging, Dr. Liu, one of the scientists who published the scientific paper in the journal cited above, said that bench seats would theoretically have more much use.
Transplantation from their own feces
His colleague, Professor Scott Weiss, argued that it is possible that the benefits come from reusing their own chairs, that is, we would talk about autologous FMT.
In theory, it means that there are fewer chances of unpleasant side effects, such as fever, bloating, nausea, vomiting and constipation that can be triggered by differences between the donor’s and recipient’s intestinal bacteria.
But the expert says that he is aware that not all individuals in our society are willing or able to pay the costs associated with the service of “rejuvenation” of their intestinal microbiome.
“Developing a reasonable business model and pricing strategy so that the solution is accessible to all would require the common strength of entrepreneurs, scientists and probably governments,” the doctor said.
How to prevent aging with fecal transplantation
A study on fish (African turquoise killifish) showed that incubating the elderly overnight with the intestinal contents of young individuals (an effective heterologous FMT) can causally induce long-term beneficial systemic effects leading to extended life expectancy and delayed behavioral decline. the elders.
A recent study in mice reported that microbial transplantation from young donors to aged recipients may reverse the differences associated with aging in peripheral immunity and brain, hippocampal metabolome, and transcriptome of aged recipient mice and showed an ability to attenuate selective deficiencies in cognitive. behavior when transplanted into an elderly host.
Similarly, a very recent study in mice showed that fecal microbial transplantation from young mice to older mice can reverse several hallmarks of aging (e.g., disrupted intestinal barrier integrity, systemic inflammation and tissues affecting the retina, and the brain). We expect autologous FMT (with stool samples collected from the host at a younger and healthier age) to be a stronger therapeutic approach to promote healthy host aging than heterologous FMT (with stool samples collected from a donor). young and unrelated healthy).
How to lose weight through fecal transplantation
A study in mice showed that autologous FMT (taking one’s own feces before developing obesity) potentiates the effects of moderate caloric restriction on weight loss. weight in obese mice induced by diet high in fat, by decreasing the efficiency of food and increasing lipolysis of adipose tissue.
A recent human study evaluated the efficacy and safety of modulated autologous FMT in the diet for the treatment of weight recovery after the weight loss phase.
This study found that autologous FMT (with a faecal sample collected during the weight loss phase and administered in the recovery phase) together with a green Mediterranean diet significantly attenuated weight recovery. In addition, the effect of autologous FMT on weight gain was associated with microbiome-specific signatures and diet.
Experts expect that autologous FMT with faecal samples collected from an earlier phase of healthy lean will be a strong synergistic intervention for obesity.
Disadvantages of the fecal bank
Shanlin Ke, a researcher at Harvard, added that further research needs to be done on the practicalities of such a chair banking system.
“A major disadvantage of autologous transplants is the need for long-term cryopreservation of stool samples, which usually require the storage of liquid nitrogen,” said the specialist.
“In order to inform the practical guidelines for stool storage, further research is needed to systematically test longer storage times and preservation, resuscitation and cultivation procedures.”
The authors also pointed out that fecal transplants were not in themselves a panacea, and other health interventions, such as diet and other lifestyle changes, may be needed in tandem to treat various ailments.
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