Our mission is to save and enhance lives through supporting microbiome research. For persons suffering from gut-related disorders, a microbiota transplant can be transformational, saving lives at its most impactful. Through our partnership with the University of Minnesota Microbiota Therapeutics Program, we support the only academic program in the world that is manufacturing therapeutic microbiota in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practice protocols, a requirement for all pharmaceutical products.
Clostridium difficile is an antibiotic-resistant infection that infects approximately 500,000 patients each year. ACT’s partnership with the University of Minnesota treats C. difficile patients and advances research. To date, we have supported the production of more than 65,000 microbiota therapies including capsules, liquid for colonoscopy, and powder formulation optimized for mixing into a drinkable liquid. These therapies are used to treat C. difficile patients and to target illnesses in clinical trials across the country. Our therapeutics have treated more than 8,000 patients with a greater than 90% success curative rate against recurrent C. difficile infections.
Personal Experiences
You’re not alone if you suffer from one of the many gut microbiome disorders. They are incredibly widespread, affecting about 11.3% of the U.S. population. If you’re in this company, you may take heart and take courage from personal stories like these.
Now a Physician Assistant working with C. difficile patients at the University of Minnesota, Emma's personal battle with recurrent C. difficile infections after the birth of her second child changed her career course and has given her first hand experience she is using to improve patient treatment.
Tim contracted a life-threatening, fulminant C. difficile infection and would not have survived without microbiota transplants.
I had a positive experience receiving FMT as part of a clinical trial for Crohn's Disease and am working towards total remission.
I was diagnosed with Crohn's in 2014.
Microbiota Transplant Therapy
History: ancient roots
Microbiota transplantation is not new. A crude form of it was reported in the fourth century in China to treat severe diarrhea and food poisoning, But it has only been in the 20th century that fecal transplantation has come into its own as an accepted therapy for disorders of the gut.
Today’s therapies build on early insights.
Like the ancient Chinese and their rudimentary form of microbiota transplantation, Bedouin tribes promoted eating fresh camel dung as a treatment for bacterial dysentery. During World War II, German soldiers in Africa successfully adopted the practice. In modern medicine, the first fecal enema was recorded by Dr. Ben Eiseman in Denver in 1958, successfully treating four patients with a condition now widely connected to C. difficile. Many clinicians began treating this condition with fecal enemas, until another antibiotic was introduced, vancomycin, becoming the standard treatment.
In 2008, Dr. Alexander Khoruts performed the first verified microbiota transplant via colonoscopy at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Khoruts compared the patient and stool donor microbe composition before and after microbial transplant and was able to demonstrate the engraftment of the donor microbes in the patient’s gut. In 2013, the American College of Gastroenterology Guideline for the Treatment of C. difficile. recommended microbiota transplantation as an alternative therapy for recurrent cases. Adoption of microbiota transplantation has grown from there, as researchers and physicians discover more and more connections between health status and the composition of microbial communities.
You and your gut: a healthy connection
Imagine a microscopic world inhabited by trillions of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. That is your gut microbiome, a complex ecosystem unique to you. While some microbes reside in the small intestine, the majority live in the large intestine. In a healthy gut, the organisms coexist peacefully, a symbiotic relationship between your body, the host, and the many microbes, each benefitting the other.
While your body provides protection and nourishment for your microbiome, the microbiome delivers an array of services to your body.
Supporting the gut-brain axis through strategic nutrition.
Within the digestive tract, gut microbes help break down complex carbohydrates and dietary fibers that the body cannot digest on its own, allowing for improved nutrient absorption and the production of beneficial byproducts, including enzymes essential for the production of key vitamins and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). SCFAs reduce inflammation, support immune regulation, regulate the metabolism and more. In the immune system, certain microbes help distinguish beneficial organisms from harmful pathogens, supporting immune balance and protecting against infection.
The microbiome is also closely connected to the nervous system through the gut–brain axis—a complex web of nerves, neurons, and neurotransmitters in the gut lining. Through this pathway, gut microbes can influence mood, cognition, and overall neurological function. Additionally, the microbiome interacts with the endocrine system by signaling through the gut lining to influence hormone production, metabolism, hunger, and satiety. Overall, the gut microbiome plays a fundamental role in helping maintain physical and mental health.
A delicate balance keeps your gut biome healthy, and it can be upset by a variety of internal and external factors. Gut dysbiosis (disruption) includes:
