The Role Of A Microbiology Testing Lab In Your Fecal Matter Transplant

IBS (or Irritable Bowel Syndrome) patients have a new type of treatment which has been shown to have very promising and effective results. The disquieting part about this new treatment is that it involves the use of someone else's fecal matter through ingestion or via enema. Yet, the balanced microbiotic flora found in a donor's fecal sample can really help regulate your gastrointestinal tract and make your IBS symptoms much more tolerable.

Before a donor can provide you and your doctor with the samples you will need several times each month, their samples have to go through rigorous tests in a microbiology testing lab. Here are the tests the donors' samples will undergo before a donor can be found to help you with your fecal matter transplants.

Checking the Feces for Parasites

Some parasites, such as tapeworms and round worms, can exist within their hosts for years without their hosts knowing it. The microbiology lab can examine every donor stool for these intestinal parasites, which could seriously complicate your IBS rather than make it better. Therefore, testing all provided samples in the lab helps weed out donors who would definitely not benefit you because they are parasitic hosts.

Testing the Feces for Potentially Lethal Diseases

HIV, HBV, hepatitis and other blood-borne pathogens exist in fecal matter. Just as transmission through blood is prevented by blood banks, great care is taken to screen stool samples from donors for FMT therapy. If your IBS has already weakened your immune system, it is even more imperative that donors have their samples tested and processed through a lab.

Testing Blood Type

Since blood cells are passed through the gastrointestinal tract after they have died or after a donor has fended off a bad infection or illness, it is important that their blood type be compatible with your own. Usually, blood type can be tested and recorded without providing a stool sample, but if there is no blood test on file, the microbiology lab can test some of the fecal matter for blood type. This is especially important if there are traces of fresh blood in the sample, which might be transferred to you during the fecal processing stage.

Processing the Approved Fecal/Stool Samples for Treatment

After the microbiology lab has tested and examined all of the samples provided by your donors, the approved samples from the approved donors is the processed according to your doctor's requests. This means that dried material is encapsulated in the lab for oral consumption, or samples are turned into enemas to be injected directly into your colon via the anal opening. Then the treatments are securely packaged and shipped to your doctor's office, pharmacy or your home. Additional treatments from approved donors may have to be tested and checked regularly before they can be packaged and processed for your use. Contact a company like Nelson Laboratories for more information.