Mahmoudi, Hassan, Hossainpour, Hadi · Saudi journal of gastroenterology : official journal of the Saudi Gastroenterology Association · 2023 · DOI
This review examines how fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT)—transferring healthy bacteria from a donor's stool to a patient's gut—can treat various diseases. While FMT is very effective for serious C. difficile infections, researchers are exploring whether it might help other conditions including chronic fatigue syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and irritable bowel syndrome by restoring a healthy balance of gut bacteria.
This review highlights the emerging evidence linking gut dysbiosis to chronic fatigue syndrome and underscores the potential role of microbiota-targeted therapies in ME/CFS. For ME/CFS patients with concurrent gastrointestinal dysfunction and dysbiosis, understanding FMT's mechanisms and efficacy across related conditions may inform future treatment strategies and research directions.
This review does not establish that FMT is clinically effective for ME/CFS or other non-CDI conditions—the authors explicitly state that controlled studies are still needed. It also does not prove causality between dysbiosis and ME/CFS; dysbiosis may be a consequence rather than a cause of the disease. The review's narrative approach means it does not systematically evaluate the strength of evidence across all cited studies.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
Spotted an error in this entry? Report it →