Helicobacter Forums

Hello,

I am wondering if Helico Pylori can infect from Fecal Microbiome Transplants performed via enema.

My background:
I have taken triple therapy for Helico Pylori 2 months ago but I have now developed a possible C Difficile infection or IBD. Prior to taking antibiotics I took a stool sample from myself and put it in the freezer in case I needed to use it in future for microbiome recovery. It turns out that I may need to!

My question:
Would doing FMT from my old stool (that likely contains H Pylori) through an enema (lower route) reinfect me with Helico Pylori? Can Helico Pylori travel up the digestive system to reinfect the stomach from the rectum/ colon?

I'm really desperate to find this out. I'm in constant pain and do not want to touch any more antibiotics. Fecal Microbiome Transplants are reguarly used to treat C Difficile so it is perfectly safe to do so. The only thing I'm unsure about is the Pylori risk. If Dr Marshall has an opinion on this (even just a suspicion) it would really help me.

Thank you for your help and reading my question.

Interesting question.
my guess is no, FMT will not give you H. pylori infection. because the bowel is always moving downwards. It would be hard for H. pylori to travel back to stomach.

nevertheless, this area has not been greatly studied. So I dont have data to prove my theory.

I think it is an area that will become more widely studied as FMT increases in popularity. Until then we can just make educated guesses.

Thank you Helico expert. I really appreciate your insights! Its really helped me out a lot.

I had a discussion with Prof Marshall yesterday.

He said that there is a particular region in the colon where H. pylori can colonise. Therefore, in given time, there is a chance for H. pylori to migrate to stomach.

Thats extremely useful to know. I will refrain from FMT as even a slight risk of reinfection is not worth it for me. Please pass on my thanks for Prof Marshall for his thoughts. And thank you too helico_expert for raising it with him. When I'm better I will donate to the clinic.

for curiosity sake, are you able to get them to do a stool antigen test to find out if there is trace of HP in your FMT?

I'm almost certain it would contain Pylori as I was positive for it soon after making my sample. I would have done the FMT at home though as I have the sample here. Theres some tutorials on youtube on how to do it yourself and an active reddit forum called r/humanmicrobiome.

I think I'll just power on with the omeprazole and just see if I can slowly ween myself onto lower doses and see if its just my stoamch taking a long time to heal.