Background Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is an effective therapy for recurrent Clostridium. difficile infection (rCDI). FMT capsules have emerged and, it is unknown if delivery location and dose impacts efficacy. Methods We compared two cohorts of patients receiving two capsule formulations: gastric release (FMTgr) and targeted colonic release (FMTcr) at two different sites. Cohort A received FMTgr at 1) high dose: 60 capsules and low dose: 30 capsules. Patients in Cohort B received FMTcr at 1) high dose: 30 capsules 2) low dose: 10 capsules. Clinical cure rates and adverse events were monitored through week 8. Paired t-tests were used to compare diversity pre-and post-FMT. Results 51 rCDI patients were enrolled. Cohort A contained n=20 and cohort B contained n=31. Overall cure at week 8 for FMTgr was 75% (15/20) compared to 80.6% for FMTcr, (25/31), p=0.63. Both formulations were safe with no serious adverse events. FMTcr were superior at increasing gut microbial diversity. Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first study to compare targeted delivery of FMT capsules. While both capsules were safe and efficacious, microbial engraftment patterns were superior in FMTcr.
SummaryThe fluorescence microscopy methods presently used to characterize protein motion in cells infer protein motion from indirect observables, rather than measuring protein motion directly. Operationalizing these methods requires expertise that can constitute a barrier to their broad utilization. Here, we have developed PIPE (photo-converted intensity profile expansion) to directly measure the motion of tagged proteins and quantify it using an effective diffusion coefficient. PIPE works by pulsing photo-convertible fluorescent proteins, generating a peaked fluorescence signal at the pulsed region, and analyzing the spatial expansion of the signal. We demonstrate PIPE’s success in measuring accurate diffusion coefficients in silico and in vitro and compare effective diffusion coefficients of native cellular proteins and free fluorophores in vivo. We apply PIPE to measure diffusion anomality in the cell and use it to distinguish free fluorophores from native cellular proteins. PIPE’s direct measurement and ease of use make it appealing for cell biologists.
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