Timing for the second fecal microbiota transplantation to maintain the long-term benefit from the first treatment for Crohn’s disease

Increasing evidence has shown that fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) could be a promising treatment option for Crohn’s disease (CD). However, the frequency of FMT for CD treatment remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the optimal timing for administering the second course of FMT to maintain the long-term clinical effects from the first FMT for patients with CD. Sixty-nine patients with active CD who underwent FMT twice and benefited from the first FMT were enrolled in this study. Clinical response, stool microbiota, and urine metabolome of patients were assessed during the follow-up. The median time of maintaining clinical response to the first FMT in total 69 patients was 125 days (IQR, 82.5–225.5). The time of maintaining clinical response to the second FMT in 56 of 69 patients was 176.5 days (IQR, 98.5–280). The fecal microbiota composition of each patient post the first FMT was closer to that of his/her donor. Compared to that of the baseline, patients prior to the second course of FMT showed significant differences in urinary metabolic profiles characterized by increased indoxyl sulfate, 4-hydroxyphenylacetate, creatinine, dimethylamine, glycylproline, hippurate, and trimethylamine oxide (TMAO). This study demonstrated that patients with CD could be administered the second course of FMT less than 4 months after the first FMT for maintaining the clinical benefits from the first FMT. This was supported by the host–microbial metabolism changes in patients with active CD. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01793831. Registered 18 February 2013. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01793831?term=NCT01793831&rank=1 Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00253-018-9447-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.