Background/Aims Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is increasingly recognized as an alternative to antibiotics for treating recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection. The success of FMT heavily depends on the appropriate selection of donors, encompassing factors such as diet patterns, lifestyle, environmental exposures, and intestinal microbiota diversity.
Methods A potential super donor was identified from 5 healthy adults and provided stool samples periodically over 2 years (2021–2022). The samples underwent 16S rRNA sequencing via the Illumina MiSeq platform, and microbial diversity was analyzed using QIIME 2 in comparison with 152 healthy individuals.
Results The stool microbiome composition of the potential super donor remained stable without significant changes over a 2-year period. Both alpha and beta diversity analyses revealed significant differences between the super donor and the 152 healthy individuals. The super donor exhibited significantly higher microbial diversity based on alpha diversity metrics (P< 0.0001) and distinct compositional profiles as shown by beta diversity. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis indicated that Faecalibacterium and Prevotella strains comprised a significant proportion, with notable differences in relative abundance patterns (P< 0.05). Furthermore, 7 bacterial species were isolated from the super donor, all of which demonstrated inhibitory effects on the growth of C. difficilein vitro.
Conclusions These findings suggest that selecting donors with specific microbiota profiles, particularly those exhibiting higher microbial diversity, may potentially contribute to the inhibition of C. difficile, and further clinical studies are warranted to validate these findings.