CHINA : A future where faecal transplants in China will cure conditions like autism, IBD, arthritis, Parkinson’s disease and even MS was presented by global Faecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) leader Professor Thomas Borody (MD, PhD) at the opening of the China Microbiota Transplantation Conference

in Nanjing, in his keynote presentation on non Clostridium difficile conditions (April 12-14, 2017).

Professor Borody, the founder and Medical Director of the Centre for Digestive Diseases (CDD) in Sydney, Australia said many diseases have a unique microbiome profile which can be progressively changed to a normal profile with FMT treatment (www.cdd.com.au ). The conference, hosted by the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, attracted more than 700 attendees with 50 oral presentations from China, Australia, USA and Europe.

FMT has its origins in China with earliest treatments dating back to the 4th century. Prof. Borody is at the forefront of FMT research being first to report successful treatment of IBD in 1988. He invented, among other therapies, the freeze-dried oral FMT capsule system. He is also globally recognized as the first physician to successfully formulate the highly effective Triple Therapy that become the gold standard for treating Helicobacter pylori infection, which can lead to peptic ulcers and stomach cancer, so common in China.

Prof. Borody in his presentation also shared findings from recent ground-breaking clinical trials in IBD and autism that he personally designed and was involved as an example of the need for greater FMT clinical trial investment in serious diseases:

– The FOCUS Study – the first adequately powered randomized double blind controlled trial for ulcerative colitis

– The Autisim Study – where cognitive improvement change was found after just 5 weeks of treatment

At the CDD Prof. Borody has had success using FMT in a broad range of conditions including IBS, IBD, autism and other neurological and autoimmune diseases. He said more research funding was needed to bring FMT treatment into the mainstream medical world.

“We’ve seen profound remission in three MS patients that are out of wheelchairs,” he said.

Like the US and Australia China is facing increasing challenges around the management of diseases, many with rising incidence including IBD, Parkinson’s disease, MS, and many autoimmune conditions.

At the state-of-the-art CDD facility in Sydney Prof. Borody and his team have performed more than 12,000 FMTs.

“The healthy human flora or it’s components, appears to be the most complete probiotic treatment available today, capable of eradicating ‘bad’ bacteria and spores and supplying ‘good’ bacteria for recolonization of the damaged gut microbiome,” said Prof. Borody.

Prior to the conference Prof. Borody visited the FMT Bank in Nanjing with China’s FMT leader Professor Faming Zhang, who was the first to perform FMT in China and has carried out over 1600 treatments to date.

Prof. Borody has collaborated closely with Professor Faming Zhang, the Director of Intestinal Diseases Center at the 2nd Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University.