Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 28, 2024; 30(16): 2179-2183
Published online Apr 28, 2024. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i16.2179
Fecal microbiota transplantation for irritable bowel syndrome: Current evidence and perspectives
Cong Dai, Yu-Hong Huang, Min Jiang
Cong Dai, Yu-Hong Huang, Min Jiang, Department of Gastroenterology, First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Jiang M had the original idea for the paper, formulated the protocol and contributed to data abstraction and analysis; Dai C and Jiang M wrote the paper and incorporated the comments from other authors and peer reviewers. All authors reviewed and approved the final draft of the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Min Jiang, Doctor, PhD, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, First Hospital of China Medical University, No. 92 of Beier Road, Heping District, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China. congdai2006@126.com
Received: November 25, 2023
Peer-review started: November 25, 2023
First decision: February 8, 2024
Revised: February 14, 2024
Accepted: April 1, 2024
Article in press: April 1, 2024
Published online: April 28, 2024
Processing time: 153 Days and 3.5 Hours
Abstract

In this editorial we comment on the article published in the recent issue of the World journal of Gastroenterology. We focus specifically on the mechanisms un-derlying the effects of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the factors which affect the outcomes of FMT in IBS patients, and challenges. FMT has emerged as a efficacious intervention for clostridium difficile infection and holds promise as a therapeutic modality for IBS. The utilization of FMT in the treatment of IBS has undergone scrutiny in numerous randomized controlled trials, yielding divergent outcomes. The current frontier in this field seeks to elucidate these variations, underscore the existing knowledge gaps that necessitate exploration, and provide a guideline for successful FMT imple-mentation in IBS patients. At the same time, the application of FMT as a treatment for IBS confronts several challenges.

Keywords: Fecal microbiota transplantation; Irritable bowel syndrome; Microbiota; Randomized controlled trial; Meta-analysis

Core Tip: Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has emerged as a efficacious intervention for Clostridium difficile infection and holds promise as a therapeutic modality for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The utilization of FMT in the treatment of IBS has undergone scrutiny in numerous randomized controlled trials, yielding divergent outcomes. The current frontier in this field seeks to elucidate these variations, underscore the existing knowledge gaps that necessitate exploration, and provide a guideline for successful FMT implementation in IBS patients. At the same time, the application of FMT as a treatment for IBS confronts several challenges.