A new study provides evidence that COVID-19 can be treated with a stool transplant.
In a small European study, two patients were treated with faecal microbiota transplant (FMT) to target an infection with the bacterium Clostridioides difficile (CDI). Both patients started experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, and the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed by a positive swab test. The study was based led by Dr Jarosław Biliński, from the Department of Hematology, Transplantation and Internal Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, in Warszawa, Poland.
In both cases, following the treatment with FMT, the patients were free of their COVID-19 symptoms just two days after the FMT. One of the patients was an 80 year old man and the second was a 19 year old man.
“Our main conclusion from these cases is that FMT appears safe and of comparable efficacy in treating recurrent CDI in patients with coexisting COVID-19. A further, more speculative question is as to whether FMT may impact the clinical course of COVID-19,” the authors wrote in their report.
“…both patients experienced mild clinical courses, with one possible explanation being that FMT mitigated more adverse outcomes, potentially through impacting microbiome-immune interactions,” the authors wrote.
About the results
The findings of this small study suggest that faecal microbiota transplant should be further studied as a potential treatment for COVID-19. FMT is used to restore the gut microbiota, potentially helping improve the body’s immune function.
Besides the FMT, these patients also received remdesivir and plasma containing antibodies to SARS-CoV2, which can be considered confounding factors. However, the authors argue that clinical benefits from remdesivir usually occur after a median of 10 days and that “clinical trials show limited benefits of CP in COVID-19,” they wrote.
A potential explanation may involve the gut microbiome. The FMT may have helped improve the composition of the patients’ gut microbiota and boost their immune function, resulting in the observed reduction in symptoms. However, much more research is needed to substantiate this scenario.
“These data let us speculate that gut microbiome manipulation may merit further exploration as an immunomodulatory strategy in COVID-19,” the authors wrote.