Gastroenterology Today Autumn 2023

COMPANY NEWS
A New Portal To Ef-FITciency:
Introducing The
Alpha Portal (TAP) by Alpha
Laboratories
The Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT)
has revolutionised the colorectal cancer
referral pathway with its quick and
user-friendly nature, making it an easily
integrated test for efficient patient triaging.
However, the valuable benefits of FIT
have brought forth logistical challenges,
primarily concerning sample collection
kit distribution to healthcare providers
and patients. The increasing demand for
this essential test is rapidly outpacing the
current capacity.
To tackle these challenges head-on, Alpha
Laboratories has collaborated with FIT users
to introduce the Alpha Portal (TAP), marking
the next phase in FIT evolution. TAP is a
cutting-edge solution designed to streamline
and manage the logistics associated with
the Faecal Immunochemical Test, providing
a scalable and efficient system to meet
the surging demand. Already proving its
effectiveness, Southmead Hospital in Bristol
has experienced significant improvements in
its FIT service following the implementation
of TAP.
Key features of the Alpha Portal include:
FIT-KIT Stock Management: Offering a
snapshot of FIT-KIT stock levels, lot and
expiry dates, and real-time tracking to ensure
a continuous and seamless supply.
Print-Ready Documents: Providing
healthcare providers with easily accessible
and print-ready documents detailing kit
components and product descriptions.
Traceable Ordering System: Implementing
a sophisticated ordering system to deliver
FIT-KITs to any location in the UK, ensuring
prompt and reliable distribution.
Order Reports: Generating comprehensive
order reports that highlight demand at each
site and ordering frequency, allowing for
better inventory management.
The Alpha Portal has been met with
enthusiasm and praise from various
healthcare facilities across the UK,
significantly reducing unnecessary workload
and enhancing the scalability of the FIT
service. As Alpha Laboratories remains
committed to delivering top-notch solutions, it
has exciting plans for additional offerings from
TAP in the near future.
In conclusion, the Alpha Portal (TAP) is
a game-changing tool for managing the
logistical challenges associated with the
Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT). It
provides an efficient and reliable means of
tracking, ordering, and distributing FIT-KIT
components, enabling healthcare providers
to meet the soaring demand for this crucial
test. By adopting TAP, healthcare facilities
can optimize their FIT services and focus on
providing timely and effective care to patients.
Please visit www.faecal-immunochemicaltest.co.uk/TAP
for further information or
contact Alpha Laboratories on 0800 38 77 32
or email marketing@alphalabs.co.uk
Microbiome characterisation
ensures success in faecal
microbiota transplantation
Graham Johnson, Managing Director,
BIOHIT Healthcare.
Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT)
is becoming a more widespread treatment
for dysbiosis-associated conditions, in
particular, for gastrointestinal disorders,
and its use was further endorsed
recently when, in 2022, the National
Institute for Health and Care Excellence
(NICE) approved it for treating recurrent
Clostridium difficile infections.[1]
However, several randomized controlled
trials investigating FMT in irritable bowel
syndrome (IBS) patients have revealed
huge variability in treatment response.
[2] These contradictory findings may be
attributable to a lack of standardisation
in various aspects of the trial protocol
design, one of which is donor selection
criteria.[3] At the same time, there has
been a rising tendency to recruit ‘superdonors’
– favourable both in terms
of their microbial diversity and stool
composition – with the aim of ensuring
positive outcomes for recipient patients.
[4, 5] The gut microbiota of these donors
is currently not always characterised, but
some advocates of FMT are beginning to
suggest that this may be more valuable
than simple clinical screening when it
comes to matching recipients to donors,
especially with the innovative diagnostic
tools that are now available.[6] Microbial
profiling undoubtedly provides key
information, such as the abundance and
diversity of bacteria in the gut – as well as
a measure of dysbiosis in patients – and
applying this approach across the board
as a measure of standardisation could
help to refine therapeutic FMT strategies
and lead to more consistent study results
with favourable patient outcomes.[7]
Purposeful protocol design
This is certainly the strategy chosen by Magdy
El-Salhy, Professor of Gastroenterology
and Hepatology at the University of Bergen,
whose research team recently conducted a
clinical trial to determine the efficacy of FMT
for IBS patients.[8] The study found that FMT
is an effective therapy for IBS, with up to 89.1
% of patients responding to treatment, and
around half of all patients experiencing clinical
improvements in abdominal symptoms,
fatigue and quality of life. However, Magdy is
convinced that protocol design was key to
ensuring the validity of the study results. There
were five important factors: the super-donors
were screened against set criteria; there
was frequent faecal analysis of the donor to
monitor microbiome stability; the fresh donor
faeces were immediately frozen; the sample
was mixed manually prior to administration;
and the donor material was administered
by gastroscope directly into the recipient’s
duodenum.
The right tool for the job
On top of this, the GA-map ® Dysbiosis
Test (GA-map ® Test) – a gut microbiota
DNA-based platform that identifies and
characterises dysbiosis – was used
throughout the trial, as Magdy explained:
“The GA map ® Test was fundamental to the
analytical element of our trial; we used it to
profile the faecal samples from the donor and
to evaluate the intestinal bacterial profiles of
patients following transplantation.” GA-map ®
Test assigns each sample with an index that
ranges from 1 for ‘normobiosis’ to any score
greater than 2 to represent an increasing
degree of dysbiosis. Samples are then
cross-indexed with an additional value that
represents the abundance of present species
compared to the reference population.
Indexing in this manner refines the definition
of dysbiosis and multiple FMT studies have
correlated the GA-map ® Test index with
effectiveness of therapeutic intervention.[9-12]
Standardisation for success
The trial protocol included faecal analysis of
the super-donor at the start of the study to
ensure that they had normal gut microbiota,
and then at three monthly intervals
throughout the year to confirm stability of
their microbiome. Christina Casèn, Senior
Vice President, Clinical and Medical Affairs at
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