Dry eye symptom improvement reported after fecal microbial transplant

Fecal microbial transplant (FMT) improved dry eye symptoms in half of the patients with immune-mediated dry eye in a new study.

In this open-label, non-randomized clinical trial, 10 patients with dry eye symptoms and s criteria for Sjögren’s or positive early Sjögren’s markers underwent 2 FMTs from a delivered via enema, 1 week apart.

Significantly different gut microbiome profiles between patients and the donor were noted at baseline, with a decreased abundance of genera Faecalibacterium, Prevotella, and Ruminococcus and an increased abundance of genera Alistipes, Streptococcus, and Blautia in patients compared to the donor. After FMT, 8 subjects had gut microbiome profiles closer to the donor’s profile.

Overall, gut microbiome profiles were found to be more like the original recipients’ than the donor’s microbiome during the follow-up period; however, during the first 3 months, certain phyla, classes, and genera OTU numbers remained more similar to the donors profile.

Dry eye symptoms 3 months after FMT were subjectively reported by 5 patients.

No adverse events were found with FMT.

Reference
Watane A, Cavuoto KM, Rojas M, et al. Fecal microbial transplant in individuals with immune-mediated dry eye. AM J Ophthalmol. 2021; DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajo.2021.06.022