Researchers from the UMC in Amsterdam are looking for vegan feces. They need the poop for fatty liver research. Researchers hope with this study to learn more about how to fight liver disease.
“Obviously it sounds very strange that you need poop,” says Quinten Augustijn, a research doctor at the UMC in Amsterdam. He is one of the researchers and he does it together with internist Onno Holleboom. “We give a healthy person’s poop to someone who is sick, to fight some diseases.”
That’s it: there are a lot of bacteria in people’s gut, and these bacteria help digestion and other processes in the body, among other things. In some people, these bacteria don’t work well. By “giving” the feces of a healthy person to a sick person, you also pass on healthy bacteria that can help fight the disease.
Fat liver
In the case of this research, it’s about fatty liver disease. “This is also called NASH. It is a liver disease that is becoming more common and serious as more and more people are living longer with obesity and / or type 2 diabetes, but it also has a genetic background,” he says. Augustijn. “It can lead to liver inflammation and scarring on the liver. In the worst case, your liver can stop working or you can develop liver cancer. But that’s a small part. There’s double the risk of cardiovascular disease.” .
A previous study found that poop transplants appear to work in the fight against fatty liver. “Normally, this goes through the stomach with a tube and goes to the duodenum. We do this in such a way that people don’t see that the stool is coming in. About every eight weeks we do a stool transplant to the patient and this has to be the as fresh as possible “. Transplants are still under investigation and are not yet a regular treatment.
Poepcapsule
The two researchers will also try a different way for transplants. “We are working together with a pharmacist. Research has been done to see if we can put it in capsules. The capsules are designed in such a way that they only open after the stomach, so there is no chance you will notice anything from the poop,” he says. Augustijn about the new method. The important thing is that the capsules are not chewed.
In addition to poop capsules, the researchers also give patients bacteria and extra food for the bacteria. “Bacteria never work alone, but always together. We hope that the new bacteria work well together and ensure a healthier gut flora.”
Vegans have the best gut bacteria
So why are researchers specifically looking for vegans? “Vegans have a different composition of bacteria than other people, producing some more substances and some less. We want as many bacteria as possible to produce good substances, vegans have a lot of them. That’s why it’s the best group.”
Augustijn has already received many applications for the call and is busy with it. “We aim for four or five good donors. To become a donor you have to go through rigorous screening.” Screening is done so that the transplant is as safe as possible. “There should be no covid, HIV or other pathogenic stuff in the poop. We need to make sure the risk is zero.”
The five selected donors have to keep busy to meet the researchers’ demand. “A donor has to donate ninety times. By the way, we pay him for it.” For each donation you will receive 50 euros from the researchers.
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