Researchers test whether feces transplantation can help patients with cirrhosis of the liver

Researchers from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital replace sick intestinal bacteria with intestinal bacteria from healthy donors in a treatment intended to help patients with cirrhosis of the liver. The Novo Nordisk Foundation supports the project with just over DKK 13 million.

In Denmark, approximately 15,000 people are diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. The disease has different causes and is serious due to the complications and frequent deterioration associated with it, as well as the high mortality rate.

Some of the complications are probably due to unwanted interaction between the intestinal bacteria and the liver's disease and function. The researchers are therefore now carrying out a treatment trial with faeces-microbiome transplantation, with the patients' sick bacteria being replaced by intestinal bacteria from healthy donors. The goal is to improve the course of the disease and lower the mortality rates for patients with cirrhosis.

The research project is based in Aarhus, where it is headed by Professor, Department Chair and Consultant Hendrik Vilstrup, Associate Professor and Specialty Registrar Karen Louise Thomsen, Associate Professor and Consultant Christian Lodberg Hvas and Postdoc and Medical Doctor Sidsel Støy. Researchers and medical doctors from other Danish and foreign university hospitals are also involved in the project. The Novo Nordisk Foundation is co-financing the project with a grant of DKK 13.2 million.