Durable coexistence of donor and recipient strains after fecal microbiota transplantation

• DOI: 10.1126/science.aad8852
• Publication Date: 2016-04-28T19:09:18Z
• Authors: Simone S. Li; Ana Zhu; Vladimir Benes; Paul I. Costea; Rajna Hercog; Falk Hildebrand; Jaime Huerta-Cepas; Max Nieuwdorp; Jarkko Salojärvi; Anita Y. Voigt; Georg Zeller; Shinichi Sunagawa; Willem M. de Vos; Peer Bork
• Keywords: Fecal bacteriotherapy; Colonisation resistance; Strain (injury)

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has shown efficacy in treating recurrent Clostridium difficile infection and is increasingly being applied to other gastrointestinal disorders, yet the fate of native introduced microbial strains remains largely unknown. To quantify extent donor colonization, we monitored strain populations fecal samples from a recent FMT study on metabolic syndrome patients using single-nucleotide variants metagenomes. We found extensive coexistence recipient strains, persisting 3 months after treatment. Colonization success was greater for conspecific than new species, latter falling within fluctuation levels observed healthy individuals over similar time frame. Furthermore, same-donor recipients displayed varying degrees transfer, indicating individual patterns microbiome resistance donor-recipient compatibilities.