Chapter 2293: 2216 Fecal Microbiota Transplant (Part 2) (Alliance Leader Mu Wood VIP Bonus Chapter 2)

Yeah, I recall that major depressive disorder is a very serious mental illness. It's said to originate from the combination of genetic and environmental factors, and stress is the main environmental risk factor. Lin Ge also doubted this; he simply didn't believe Dr. Lan Se Payne's opinion or the treatment.

"The principle still exists." Zheng Ren, although he also didn't believe fecal transplant could treat severe depression, still spoke frankly: "More and more evidence shows that the microbiota is an environmental factor that can shape the brain via the microbiota-gut-brain axis, and mice whose microbiota undergoes change usually exhibit depression-related behavior."

"It's said to be related to the NLRP3 gene." Su Yun added a sentence.

"What N?" Lin Ge exclaimed in surprise.

"Uh..." Zheng Ren found it really hard to explain clearly; after thinking, he said: "Simply put, it's taking the feces of mice in which the NLRP3 gene... a gene related to depression has been knocked out, making them into capsules for patients to swallow."

""

Lin Ge and Director Kong were both stunned.

Although he was battle-hardened, just thinking about Huang Long Tang, mouse feces... made him feel nauseous. Now having to ingest mouse feces—could this really cure disease?

"Director Lin, what's that expression?" Su Yun gleeful inside, putting on a serious look at Lin Ge, "Eating mouse dung? That's existed since ancient times."

"I actually know there's a children's snack called mouse dung; friends from Jinling still search the world for it during holidays. Too bad it's getting rarer and rarer."

"What you're talking about is a little snack made from dried tangerine peel, preserved plum, white sugar, and hawthorn." Su Yun chuckled: "One sentence reveals your age—what era is this, who still eats mouse dung?"

"Memories, memories."

"There's mouse dung in traditional Chinese medicine, you know?" Su Yun, teasingly, brought the topic back.

"Five spirit fat, that is the feces of the renewed-toothed dormouse." Zheng Ren said, "It mainly treats cold qi in the abdomen, pediatric five accumulations, repels plague, treats intestinal wind, promotes qi and blood circulation, and treats female amenorrhea."

"Saying that makes you unprofessional..."

"Just knowing the meaning is enough; why be so professional?" Zheng Ren said, "Treating severe depression with fecal microbiota transplant is still at the animal experiment stage, and I'm not optimistic about this kind of animal experiment."

"Just because we can't tell if the mice are really depressed? Actually we can still judge through their activity, interaction, and play." Seeing Zheng Ren unwilling to speak, Su Yun smiled and moved on, continuing to talk about treating depression.

"If treating Clostridium difficile infection, fecal microbiota transplant could still be tried, but the risk is extremely high." Zheng Ren said, "But..."

"Cut the nonsense, they're looking for an American expert to treat it; do you believe it or not, you just flat-out deny it, and Section Chief Mao's family would have kicked you out directly?" Su Yun blew a breath, her black hair in front of her forehead fluttering.

"It shouldn't be that bad."

"What's not serious about it? I heard Section Chief Mao is currently in the onset stage; no matter who he sees, he grabs their hand and says sorry. His memory is also exceptionally good; he can talk about a tiny detail for ages." Su Yun said.

"Oh? Believing one's life is worthless, extreme guilt, regret, helplessness, hopelessness, and self-destructive. These points actually fit severe depressive disorder quite well." Zheng Ren said: "If that's the case, then there's nothing much to do."

Lin Ge, hearing Zheng Ren say that, lowered his head and sighed.

"Tch, are you referring to the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria or the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria?"

"Neither." Zheng Ren had no desire to argue with Su Yun today; he directly said: "I still agree with Director Mei's view—standard drug treatment. Fecal microbiota transplant, whether via the gastrointestinal tract or oral capsules, could potentially cause more and bigger problems."

"Alright, Boss Zheng, I'll relay your opinion to the hospital." Lin Ge finally said solemnly.

"Regarding fecal microbiota transplant, there have been many new research findings recently—for example, in a study published in the August 2019 issue of Cell journal, researchers Erick Riquelme and Florencia McAllister from the Anderson Cancer Center in the United States discovered that among a few long‑surviving pancreatic cancer patients, the microbes in their tumors were markedly more diverse."

"Can fecal microbiota transplant treat cancer?" Lin Ge exclaimed in surprise.

"Just a finding; whether it works still needs long‑term research." Zheng Ren said: "It could also be a mistaken direction. Fecal microbiota transplant is a good thing, but I don't think we should use experimental‑stage methods in clinical practice."

"Okay."

Lin Ge nodded, then stood up and said: "Boss Zheng, then I'll report to the hospital."

"Director Lin, it's said that after Section Chief Mao and her husband repented, her husband got angry for an hour, then slammed the door and left—did that really happen?" Su Yun continued gossiping.

Lin Ge gave a bitter smile.

"Why ask so much? It has nothing to do with diagnosis or treatment." Zheng Ren said.

Hearing Zheng Ren say that, Lin Ge gave an apologetic smile and turned to leave.

Zheng Ren then said a couple of words to Director Kong and also left the office.

"Boss, do you really think fecal microbiota transplant is unreliable?" Su Yun asked.

"It's not that it's unreliable, but that it needs a long time of research. Treatment for Clostridium difficile infection is already used clinically, yet the mortality rate is high."

"If not used, the mortality rate is nearly 100%." Su Yun directly retorted.

"Who knows? Internal medicine treatments have nothing to do with us." Zheng Ren also didn't want to ponder these; being a good surgeon is enough.

"Boss, the Interventional Medicine Discipline belongs to the imaging specialty and is a clinical auxiliary discipline." Su Yun's mouth is cheap; she twisted the meaning and directly hit Zheng Ren's soft spot.

Zheng Ren couldn't be bothered with that guy, returned to the office and kept reading.

This time he looked for information about fecal microbiota transplant.

For fecal microbiota transplant to become a routine clinical treatment, it won't happen without twenty or thirty years.

Zheng Ren was just taking a look out of curiosity; he didn't intend to study it from start to finish. Even the True Eye skill had cooled down, and Zheng Ren didn't want to use it.

Who knows how vast the scope behind a study is; using it casually could very well drain one's energy and cause them to faint.

Zheng Ren learns from a loss; the True Eye must not be used casually. He glanced at the gastric fundus and left gastric artery embolism surgery—after all, it's simple.

As for fecal microbiota transplant...

As an emerging therapeutic method, it involves too broad a range of fields. Treating gut microbiota imbalance, treating depression, treating cancer, treating diabetes—it seems one can find its trace everywhere.

With so much data, Zheng Ren increasingly gave up the idea of using the True Eye to investigate the truth. It's so massive that a single glance would likely not cause fainting but actual death.