I know how popular poop threads are in the Hangout. So when I read this article I knew it was Hangout material. http://www.news.com.au/technology/s...m-healthy-people/story-fn5fsgyc-1226093197503
Leaving aside that its poop its an interesting idea to use pro-biotics to help cure disease. I heard a while ago of a similar idea to adjust the environment in the human mouth to use good bacteria to drive out disease causing bacteria.
The same poop...back and forth. Forever. <iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KQoJo81lujk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Fecal transplant capsules show promising results in clinical trials for multiple types of cancer by London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute edited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Robert Egan Add as preferred source Above: Saman Maleki, Ph.D., holding a 'poop pill' developed by Lawson Research Institute (Lawson) of St. Joseph's Health Care London and tested in clinical trials at London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI) and Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM). Credit: LHSCRI Fecal microbiota transplants (FMT) can dramatically improve cancer treatment, suggest two groundbreaking studies published in the Nature Medicine journal. The first study shows that the toxic side effects of drugs to treat kidney cancer could be eliminated with FMT. The secondstudy suggests FMT is effective in improving the response to immunotherapy in patients with lung cancer and melanoma. The findings represent a giant step forward in using FMT capsules—developed at Lawson Research Institute (Lawson) of St. Joseph's Health Care London and used in clinical trials at London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI) and Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM)—for safe and effective cancer treatment. A Phase I clinical trial was conducted by scientists at LHSCRI and Lawson to determine if FMT is safe when combined with an immunotherapy drug to treat kidney cancer. The team found that customized FMT may help reduce toxic side effects from immunotherapy. The clinical trial involved 20 patients at the Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). "Standard treatment for advanced kidney cancer often includes an immunotherapy drug that helps the patient's immune system tackle cancer cells," says Saman Maleki, Ph.D., Scientist at LHSCRI. "But, unfortunately, the treatment frequently leads to colitis and diarrhea, sometimes so severe that a patient must stop life-sustaining treatment early. If we can reduce toxic side effects and help patients complete their treatment, that will be a gamechanger." Separate Phase II lung and skin cancer studies were led by researchers at CRCHUM in collaboration with Lawson and LHSCRI. The studies found that 80% of patients with lung cancer responded to immunotherapy after FMT, compared to only 39–45% typically benefiting from immunotherapy alone. Similarly, 75% of patients with melanoma who received FMT experienced a positive response to treatment, compared to only 50–58% response in patients who receive immunotherapy alone. Twenty patients participated in the lung cancer clinical trial and 20 patients participated in the skin cancer clinical trial. "Our clinical trial demonstrated that fecal microbiota transplantation could improve the efficacy of immunotherapy in patients with lung cancer and melanoma," says Dr. Arielle Elkrief, co-principal investigator and Physician Scientist, Université de Montréal-affiliated hospital research centre (CRCHUM). "The results also uncovered one possible mechanism of action of fecal transplantation—through the elimination of harmful bacteria following the transplant. Our results open up a novel avenue for personalized microbiome therapies, and fecal transplant is now being tested as part of the large pan-Canadian Canbiome2 randomized controlled trial." "Fecal microbiota transplantation in melanoma and lung cancer opens an entirely new therapeutic avenue, made possible by the exceptional commitment of our patients and the teamwork," adds Dr. Rahima Jamal, Director of the Unit for Innovative Therapies (UIT) at CRCHUM. "At the Unit for Innovative Therapies (UIT) of the CRCHUM, we have had the privilege of translating laboratory discoveries into early phase clinical trials and witnessing their concrete impact on people living with cancer." Both studies use advanced, world-leading FMT capsules, also known as LND101, produced by Lawson in London, Ont. The research reinforces London's place as a global leader in FMT innovation and treatment. The capsules are processed from healthy donor stools and ingested to help restore a patient's healthy gut microbiome and treat different types of cancer. "To use FMT to reduce drug toxicity and improve patients' quality of life while possibly enhancing their clinical response to cancer treatment is tremendous, and it had never been done in treating kidney cancer before this," says Dr. Michael Silverman, Scientist at Lawson and Head of St. Joseph's Infectious Diseases Program. "And none of this would be possible if not for this close collaboration: innovating the FMT capsules in Lawson labs and introducing them at LHSCRI and CHUM to advance vital research initiatives. Also, because LND101 comes from healthy donors, production can be scaled up to eventually help large numbers of cancer patients." The studies build on earlier London and CHUM-generated Phase I research showing FMT can safely augment treatment for people with melanoma. FMT is also being studied in people with pancreatic cancer and triple-negative breast cancer, and is already a well-established treatment for serious gut infections such as C. difficile, which can cause severe diarrhea. "Our hope is that our research will one day help people with cancer live longer while reducing the harmful side effects of treatment," adds Dr. Ricardo Fernandes, Scientist at LHSCRI and Medical Oncologist at LHSC.
Poop From Young Donors Reverses Age-Related Decline in The Guts of Older Mice HEALTH04 February 2026 By MICHELLE STARR (Sebastian Kaulitzki/Science Photo Library/Getty Images) Supplementing the guts of older mice with poop from younger ones has revealed the key role microbes play in intestinal stem cell function. After receiving a fecal microbiota transplant from younger mice, one aspect of age-related decline in the guts of older mice was reversed, driven by increased intestinal stem cell activity that maintains the intestinal walls. The findings suggest that such transplants could someday be a treatment pathway for age-related intestinal conditions, such as inflammation and obesity. "As we age, the constant replacement of intestinal tissue slows down, making us more susceptible to gut-related conditions," says molecular biologist Hartmut Geiger of Ulm University in Germany. "Our findings show that younger microbiota can prompt older intestine to heal faster and function more like younger intestine." Intestinal stem cells are crucial for maintaining a stable, healthy gut. They're the mechanism by which the gut lining – the epithelium – constantly replenishes and renews itself, ensuring consistent gut function. However, as we age, the rate of this renewal slows, increasing vulnerability to age-related gut dysfunction. In previous research, Geiger and his colleagues, cell biologists Yi Zheng and Kodandaramireddy Nalapareddy of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, determined that this slowed regeneration is directly linked to reduced function of intestinal stem cells. We also know that the microbial communities that live in our guts change with age, with such changes linked to conditions like Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and even vision loss. The researchers wanted to know if the gut microbiome affects stem cell activity, too. So, they recruited more team members and designed a simple experiment to test it: transplanting fecal samples between and within groups of old mice and young mice. After the series of transplants was complete, the researchers studied the intestines to see what changes, if any, resulted from the transfer. In the older mice, the change was dramatic. Stem cell activity had increased, as well as the Wnt signalling that these cells need in order to function. The regeneration of the epithelium picked up pace – and, critically, the gut healed more quickly after radiation damage. "This reduced signaling causes a decline in the regenerative potential of aged ISCs," Zheng says. "However, when older microbiota were replaced with younger microbiota, the stem cells resumed producing new intestine tissue as if the cells were younger. This further demonstrates how human health can be affected by the other life forms living inside us." In the younger mice, the change was less dramatic. There was only a slight drop in stem cell activity, Wnt signalling, and regeneration; the intestines continued to function reasonably well. This suggests that the aging gut is far more sensitive to microbiome changes than younger ones. Another really interesting finding was that one of the perpetrators of stem cell curtailment in the aging gut is Akkermansia, a bacterium that is generally considered beneficial in several ways, with signs that it can help reduce diet-induced obesity and depression-like behavior in mice. In aging mice, elevated levels of Akkermansia actually contribute to the suppression of Wnt signalling – a finding that implies that gut bacteria are not necessarily good or bad, but that their contribution may depend on context. This isn't a slam-dunk for human health; our bodies (and intestines) are more complex than those of mice, and we'd need to perform separate studies to see if this phenomenon occurs in our own species. Related: Most People Develop Diverticulosis in Their Gut by Age 80… So What Is It? However, the research does illuminate a promising avenue for future study. It also suggests that age-related stem cell decline may not be irreversible. By harnessing the ability of gut microbes to shape how intestinal tissue renews itself, scientists could one day develop ways to help preserve intestinal health as we age. The research has been published in Stem Cell Reports.
