Synthetic 'poop' cures C. diff - University of Guelph

CanadianHealthcareNetwork.ca THE MEDICAL POST MarCH 27, 2012 41NewsSound Bites p.44 ➾ Pain medicine p.48 ➾ Science-ish p.51 ➾ Healthcare Interview p.56 ➾C A N A D I A N D I G E S T I V E D I S E A S E S W E E KMartin schwalbeDr. Emma Allen-Vercoe(PhD): Mimicking thecolon in the lab.Synthetic ‘poop’ cures C. diffTreatment offers a less ‘icky’ approach than fecal transplantby SuSannah benady • MontrealAprototype synthetic “superpoop”—amixture based onhuman gut flora isolated froma healthy donor—has beendeveloped as an alternative toactual poop for fecal transplantation.Known as rePOOPulate, the preparation hasalready cured two patients with chronic C. difficileand has the potential to be produced ona national scale, providing a less “icky” form oftreatment with a product of known compositionthat is safer and more stable and can be used forretreatment in case of relapse.RePOOPulate also has potential applicationsfor major conditions such as inflammatory boweldisease, obesity and even autism, through itsability to rebalance a patient’s abnormal gutmicrobial ecosystem.As such, it is part of a new paradigm in medicine,Dr. Emma Allen-Vercoe (PhD), an assistantprofessor of microbiology at the University ofGuelph in Ontario, told the Canadian Digestive

42 march 27, 2012 THE MEDICAL POST | news canadianhealthcarenetwork.caDiseases Week conference.Dr. Allen-Vercoe devisedand developed the conceptin conjunction with KingstonGeneral Hospital infectiousdisease specialist Dr. ElainePetrof, who has performedfecal transplants and wasimpressed with their successin curing C. difficile.But, she said, she was lookingfor something safer andmore palatable for patients.“There is no doubt that fecalmartin schwalbeDr. Allen-Vercoe and colleagues use Robogut, thelaboratory setup that simulates the environment of thecolon, to grow bacteria for rePOOPulate, a chronicC. difficile cure based on gut flora from a healthy donor.TOO MANYUPS AND DOWNS?Help your patients reduce postprandialrises in blood glucose and insulin 1, 2 *Ideal as a snack or good as a meal replacement, Glucerna nutritional drinkcan help your patients manage their diabetes. Glucerna complies with theCanadian Diabetes Association nutritional guidelines. 3Recommend Glucerna to your patients as partof their diabetes nutritional management plan.Glucerna is clinically shown tolower glycemic response. 1,2 *Adjusted mean change in plasma glucose (mmol/L)4.43.32.21.10.0-1.1-2.2†† At 60 minutes onlyAdjusted mean change in plasma glucose over time 1Standard nutritional drinkGlucerna bottlep