Chapter 577: Fecal Microbiota Transplant Capsule (Part 1)

The Patient was stunned by Director Zou's words, staring blankly at the short, stout, drooling Director Zou.

Was he serious!

Fecal microbiota transplant capsule? As the name implies... if they hadn't misunderstood, it meant having to eat shit oneself?!

Was he really not joking?

In the Review Room.

The guests and the Guangtou Zhuchiren were also startled by Director Zou's words.

The Guangtou Zhuchiren's mouth twisted to the side as he looked toward Professor Shen.

"Shen... Professor Shen." The Guangtou Zhuchiren was clearly somewhat shaken, and he stammered, "Fecal microbiota transplant capsule, is that a homophone? Did I hear it wrong? It should be resolution discrimination, right?"

"No, feces means stool," Professor Shen said indifferently.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The atmosphere in the Review Room was somewhat strange and awkward.

Professor Shen knew that this matter wasn't just unknown to laypeople, but that even some large Grade A Tertiary Hospitals ranked outside the top twenty in the country hadn't implemented it, so he began to explain.

"Clostridioides difficile is a type of obligate anaerobe in the Clostridium genus. It is extremely sensitive to oxygen and very difficult to isolate and culture, so the initial researchers gave it a simple and crude name—Clostridioides difficile.

Clostridioides difficile was first discovered in 1935, and in 1977 it was found that this bacterium was related to pseudomembranous enteritis caused by long-term clinical use of certain antibiotics; only then did it start to be taken seriously."

"The emergence of Clostridioides difficile is related to the long-term, large-scale use of antibiotics."

"Professor Shen, is that what everyone calls the abuse of antibiotics in hospitals?" a guest asked.

The Guangtou Zhuchiren glared at him unhappily, giving a sufficient hint.

He really didn't know how to speak; how could one curse a bald man in front of a monk?

"Antibiotic abuse, huh." Professor Shen didn't seem to care much and smiled slightly, "The biggest abuser of antibiotics is the livestock industry, but public opinion... hahaha, let's not talk about that. We in clinical practice now need approval from clinical pharmacy just to use an antibiotic; it's very troublesome."

"Professor Shen, please continue talking about the fecal microbiota transplant capsule." The Guangtou Zhuchiren pulled the topic back to maintain control.

"About 50% of 12-month-old infants have Clostridioides difficile in their intestinal tracts, and the carriage rate for children over 2 years old is about 3%, but the frequency of Clostridioides difficile in healthy adults is relatively low."

"This Patient had Clostridioides difficile in their intestinal tract because of the relatively long duration of antibiotic use. The diagnostic speed at the Affiliated Hospital was very fast, quite commendable," Professor Shen praised, "That is the diagnosis; next, let's talk about the fecal microbiota transplant capsule."

"Fecal microbiota transplantation, also called 'fecal transplantation', is the process of transplanting functional bacterial communities from the feces of a healthy person into a patient's gastrointestinal tract to reconstruct a normally functioning intestinal flora, achieving the treatment of intestinal and extra-intestinal diseases.

Other names include 'intestinal microbiota transplantation' or 'intestinal microecology transplantation'."

"..." The Guangtou Zhuchiren was slightly stunned.

His expression was very difficult, his whole face looking just like the simple and crude Clostridioides difficile.

"Professor Shen, do you mean eating someone else's stool?" a guest asked.

"That is roughly the meaning," Professor Shen smiled, "Actually, the main ingredients of many medicines cannot be described in detail. For example, Night-shining sand, for example... *cough cough*, for example, the Kangfuxin Liquid commonly used in clinical practice."

"I know that one, Periplaneta americana," the Guangtou Zhuchiren tried his best to ease the atmosphere in the Review Room, "During the pandemic a few years ago, many people had the reaction of swallowing blades, and drinking Kangfuxin Liquid had very good effects. But I have a few friends who say it's cockroach juice and say they would rather die than drink it."

"Hahaha." Professor Shen laughed, "Fecal microbiota transplant capsules are a different matter. Thousands of patients worldwide have already received fecal microbiota transplantation treatment. The United States has developed the most rapidly in this regard, and some institutions have already established fecal banks similar to blood banks to serve as a support platform for this treatment method."

"Fecal banks..."

"Fecal banks..."

Professor Shen's words were shocking, leaving the Guangtou Zhuchiren and the guests speechless. The experienced Guangtou Zhuchiren, who was excellent at saving a show, didn't know how to continue either.

Actually, he wasn't averse to topics about excrement, as eating, drinking, defecating, and sleeping were major life events after all. But the term "fecal bank" exceeded the Guangtou Zhuchiren's cognition; he had absolutely no idea what to say.

"New research results published in the Journal of the American Medical Association show that in treating Clostridioides difficile infections, frozen excrement is encapsulated into capsules.

A 1.6-gram synthetic pill would be as safe and effective as traditional excrement transplantation techniques. Within 8 weeks, 18 out of 20 patients had their diarrhea completely relieved after taking 30 or 60 stool pills."

"Of course, I know this is disgusting."

Professor Shen glanced at the Guangtou Zhuchiren and the guests present, smiled slightly, and explained.

"It sounds very disgusting, but in principle, human feces is the body's waste, and its main component is actually bacteria.

Current research proves that intestinal bacteria function is extremely important, and some scholars even believe that the intestinal flora belongs to an important organ of the human body, so in principle, transplanting the stool of a normal, healthy person to a patient is very similar to the concept of organ transplantation."

"Intestinal flora belongs to an organ?" Mao Mao whispered.

"A metaphor, a metaphor, of course it's not a real organ," Professor Shen said, "But the production and clinical application of fecal microbiota transplant capsules have already been carried out domestically. Although there are no fecal banks, as far as I know, Hang Yi Da Yi Fu Yuan should be able to produce fresh, frozen fecal microbiota transplant capsules."

"..."

Fresh...

Frozen...

The guests present were all connecting these two words with feces for the first time, and for a moment, they simply couldn't accept it.

"Antibiotics can cause intestinal flora disorders, requiring the reconstruction of the intestinal flora. To put it crudely—eating shit is the best method. In the natural world, the intestinal flora of many young herbivores is built through the consumption of the mother's excrement."

In a private room at Feiyang Barbecue, Liu Zhuren sighed.

"Lao Bai, when can our hospital have similar equipment?"

"Impossible. It requires low-temperature conditions of over minus one hundred degrees; it's not something where you can just pack a lump of shit and eat it," Bai Chuzhang was clearly knowledgeable about this and said with slight displeasure.

"You've submitted an application?" Liu Zhuren knew Bai Chuzhang too well; seeing him unhappy, he guessed why.

"I had the Department of Gastroenterology submit one, but because the equipment is too expensive, it wasn't approved," Bai Chuzhang said.

"The thing is a good thing, will it be very expensive?" Liu Zhuren asked a strange question.

"If our hospital just bought it, it would be very expensive, but if it were implemented, it would become much cheaper. For example, in the United States, it's 40 dollars a lump of shit."

"So disgusting, can't you be more refined," Liu Zhuren frowned.

"You, a Urology Department Surgeon, someone who clears out sewers, are talking to me about being refined?"

"What we clear out is only a part of the sewer; what you're talking about is the work of the Gastrointestinal Surgery and Anorectal departments."

(End of chapter)