A Guide for Ex Vivo Handling and storage of stool samples Intended for Fecal Microbiota transplantation

Sebastian D Burz (1, 2) , Anne-Laure Abraham (3) , Fernanda Fonseca (4) , Olivier David (3) , Audrey Chapron (1) , Fabienne F. Beguet-Crespel (1) , Stéphanie Cenard (4) , Karine Le Roux (1) , Florence Levenez (5) , Carole Schwintner (6) , Herve H. Blottiere (1, 2) , Christel Béra-Maillet (1) , Patricia Lepage (1) , Joel Dore (1, 2) , Catherine Juste (1, 2)

1 MICALIS - MICrobiologie de l'ALImentation au Service de la Santé
2 MetaGenoPolis
3 MaIAGE - Mathématiques et Informatique Appliquées du Génome à l'Environnement [Jouy-En-Josas]
4 GMPA - Génie et Microbiologie des Procédés Alimentaires
5 INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
6 MaaT Pharma [Lyon]

Owing to the growing recognition of the gut microbiota as a main partner of human health, we are expecting that the number of indications for fecal microbiota transplantation (FMt) will increase. Thus, there is an urgent need for standardization of the entire process of fecal transplant production. This study provides a complete standardized procedure to prepare and store live and ready-to-use transplants that meet the standard requirements of good practices to applied use in pharmaceutical industry. We show that, if time before transformation to transplants would exceed 24 hours, fresh samples should not be exposed to temperatures above 20 °C, and refrigeration at 4 °C can be a safe solution. Oxygen-free atmosphere was not necessary and simply removing air above collected samples was sufficient to preserve viability. Transplants prepared in maltodextrin-trehalose solutions, stored in a-80 °C standard freezer and then rapidly thawed at 37 °C, retained the best revivification potential as proven by 16S rRNA profiles, metabolomic fingerprints, and flow cytometry assays over a 3-month observation period. Maltodextrin-trehalose containing cryoprotectants were also efficient in preserving viability of lyophilized transplants, either in their crude or purified form, an option that can be attractive for fecal transplant biobanking and oral formulation.

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]; Alimentation et Nutrition

Sebastian D Burz, Anne-Laure Abraham, Fernanda Fonseca, Olivier David, Audrey Chapron, et al.. A Guide for Ex Vivo Handling and storage of stool samples Intended for Fecal Microbiota transplantation. Scientific Reports, 2019, 9 (1), pp.8897. ⟨10.1038/s41598-019-45173-4⟩. ⟨hal-02466120⟩