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World J Gastroenterol. Dec 21, 2016; 22(47): 10304-10315
Published online Dec 21, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i47.10304
Fecal microbial transplant for the treatment of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease
Alice Yuxin Wang, Jelena Popov, Nikhil Pai
Alice Yuxin Wang, Michael G DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada
Jelena Popov, Nikhil Pai, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, McMaster Children’s Hospital, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada
Jelena Popov, McMaster Integrative Neuroscience Discovery and Study Graduate Program, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, Canada
Author contributions: Wang AY and Popov J contributed equally to this work; Pai N was responsible for providing overall review and editing of the final paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors wish to declare no relevant conflicts of interest to the preparation, or content of this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Nikhil Pai, MD FAAP FRCPC, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, McMaster Children’s Hospital, McMaster University, Hamilton, 1280 Main Street West, HSC 3A21, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada. pain@mcmaster.ca
Telephone: +1-905-5212100 Fax: +1-905-5212655
Received: August 3, 2016
Peer-review started: August 5, 2016
First decision: September 21, 2016
Revised: November 1, 2016
Accepted: November 16, 2016
Article in press: November 16, 2016
Published online: December 21, 2016
Processing time: 138 Days and 12 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: There is growing interest in fecal microbial transplant (FMT) for the treatment of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The therapeutic potential of bacterial therapies is intriguing. FMT is effective for treating recurrent Clostridium difficile infection, distinct microbial signatures in IBD continue to be described, and patients are increasingly looking for therapeutic options with lower rates of morbidity. This review describes existing adult and pediatric literature on the role of FMT in IBD, features of the IBD microbiome that may be associated with response, current trials, and the potential challenges and opportunities for the future of FMT in pediatric IBD treatment.