Faecal transplants are safe and effective for treating autistic adults with gut problems, according to new tests.
US researcher Professor James Adams reached the conclusion the transplants were safe after trialling them on 51 adults.
Professor James Adams’s latest research on microbiota transplants suggests they are safe and effective for autistic adults with gut problems
Arizona State University (ASU) researcher Adams said his findings “provide important insight” on how to “improve dosing”.
‘A miracle for him’
His research team says one family told how their 30-year-old son, who has attention deficit disorder and autism, would go 10 days between bowel movements.
Adams’ team said the family called the treatment a “miracle for him”. The patient had bowel movements every two to three days and his depression and anxiety improved significantly after treatment.
However, other results were not so spectacular. Adams’s study recorded that, overall, the treatment had a “moderate effect” on improving autism and gut symptoms.
The researcher, who has an autistic adult daughter, led an earlier small-scale study on faecal transplants in autistic children. Nearly half the participants lost their diagnosis.
Two years later, he reported that “most of the initial improvements in gut symptoms remained”.
Faecal transplants have ‘incredible potential’
Biomedical charity Thinking Autism said Adams’ findings show the treatment’s “incredible potential”.
Under the procedure, medics transplant poo, or faecal microbiota (FMT), from a healthy person into the intestines of the patient.
The treatment is designed to help restore the gut’s healthy balance.
Adams’s team also ran a trial on children with Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome. The syndrome is a genetic disorder that causes a severe learning disability, autism and constipation.
Again, the drug was said to be safe and well-tolerated. It saw a “substantial improvement” in all six of the children involved.
Results gone for review
The results have gone to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for review.
In 2019, a patient in the US who had a weakened immune system died after a faecal transplant.
The FDA issued new guidance, but Adams insisted his work would be unaffected because he was already complying with it.
Related:
- Stool treatment ‘helps gut issues’
- Patient dies after faecal transplant
- Could faecal transplants help adults?
- Study finds faecal transplants effective
- Bowel disease far more common in autism
- Study seeks proof of gut link to autism
- Stress ‘likely cause of gut issues’
- Evidence grows for autism link to gut
Published: 16 June 2023
