Fecal Microbiota Transplantation: A New Old Kid on the Block for the Management of Gut Microbiota-related Disease

Gut microbiota is deeply involved in the regulation of both health and disease within our body. The restoration of a healthy gut microbiota is, therefore, a main clinical target in the management of diseases associated with its disruption. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is an old therapy that has recently been rediscovered, having proved a clear efficacy against recurrent Clostridium difficile infection. By restoring the altered gut microbiota in a substantial and durable manner, FMT is considered a cutting-edge promising option for the treatment of disease that recognize the alteration of the gut microbiota as having a pathogenic role. FMT has shown interesting (even if uncertain) results in diseases such as metabolic syndrome and inflammatory bowel diseases. Moreover, the definition of a standard procedural protocol for each specific disease, as well as exhaustive studies about the relationship between donor's microbiota composition and clinical results, will certainly improve the therapeutic potential of FMT. Both the application of cutting-edge technologies for the assessment of gut microbiota composition (such as metagenomics) and the development of well-designed, large randomized trials are needed to put such perspectives into practice.