Faecal transplant ‘might halt beta-cell decline’ in early T1DM
A small randomised controlled trial suggests autologous transplants work best
Faecal microbiota transplantation can stop the functional decline of islet beta cells in adults with new-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), a small trial suggests.
Dutch researchers investigated whether autologous faecal microbiota transplants (FMTs) or allogenic FMTs from healthy donors would affect beta-cell function, as measured by C-peptide levels, in 20 patients with diabetes diagnosed less than six weeks prior.
Patients were randomised to receive three donor FMTs or three autologous FMTs over four months.
At 12 months, stimulated C-peptide levels showed significantly greater preservation of beta-cell function in the autologous-FMT group compared with the donor-FMT group.
