Photo Credit: Jennifer Oosthuizen

The following is a summary of “Oral Capsule FMT Combined With Bezlotoxumab Is a Successful Rescue Protocol Following Failure of FMT Alone in the Treatment of Recurrent C. difficile Infection,” published in the November 2024 issue of Gastroenterology by Hoeg et al.    

The initial failure of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in treating recurrent Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) infection increases the risk of future treatment failures.  

Researchers conducted a prospective study to evaluate the benefit of adding bezlotoxumab to repeat FMT in people with recurrent C. difficile infections after prior FMT failure.  

They implemented a rescue protocol combining FMT with bezlotoxumab, which was administered temporally with a second FMT at 2 academic centers. Outcomes were compared in a registry of people receiving this protocol with an analysis of prior patients who underwent repeat FMT alone, with all FMT preparations standardized for dose.  

The results showed that the historical cure rate of second FMT for recurrent C. difficile infection was 48% (15/31 people). The addition of bezlotoxumab to the second FMT resulted in a cure rate of 89% (24/27 people).  

They concluded that adding bezlotoxumab to repeat FMT significantly improved cure rates in people with recurrent C. difficile infection.  

Source: journals.lww.com/jcge/abstract/9900/oral_capsule_fmt_combined_with_bezlotoxumab_is_a.387.asp