Trust your gut... Microbes Faecal microbiota transplantation in metabolic, autoimmune and infectious disease

My thesis entitled “Trust your Gut... Microbes” is divided into three subsections. Part one is about the treatment of patients with metabolic syndrome with fecal microbiota transplantation. We have performed an RCT in which we have transplanted donor microbes from post gastric bypass donors in an attempt to mimic the effects of this highly effective weight loss surgery in our participants using just microbes. Indeed, we saw favourable changes in this group when compared to the control group that received donor microbes from other donors who themselves had metabolic syndrome.
Part two features three studies. The first one is a case-control study in which differences in short-chain fatty acids were reported between type 1 diabetes patients and healthy control subjects. Next, we have done an RCT which shows that butyrate did not significantly affect insulin production and innate and adaptive immunological parameters in patients with longstanding type 1 diabetes. Finally we have performed an RCT in which new-onset type 1 diabetes patients were transplanted three times in six months with their own gut microbiota, which significantly improved insulin production after 12 months when compared to donor gut microbes. This was contrary to what we had expected, as we had expected favourable effects in the recipients of donor microbiota.
The final part features two studies focusing on infectious diseases: a case series on ESBL-eradication using gut microbiota, which was effective in 40% of participants and a study on the complications of fecal microbiota transplantation for Clostridium difficile diarrhea.