Please select the eligibility criteria that correspond to the clinical trial below.
Title: Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Relapsing Clostridium Difficile Infection
Brief Summary: There has been an alarming increase in the incidence and severity of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in North America over the past decade. Relapsing infection is a common problem in patients treated for CDI, often requiring prolonged and expensive courses of oral vancomycin with limited alternative treatment options. This study will determine if fecal microbiota transplantation, which involves administering fecal flora from a healthy stool donor to a patient with relapsing CDI, is an effective and safe treatment.


Options:
A: Patient inclusion criteria

1. Age 18 years or older.
2. Able to provide informed consent.
3. Laboratory or pathology: confirmed diagnosis of recurrent CDI with symptoms (defined below) within the previous 180 days.
4. ≥ 2 episodes of CDI within 6 months and/or ongoing symptoms consistent with CDI despite treatment with oral vancomycin at a dose of at least 125 mg 4 times daily for at least 5 days.

Symptoms of CDI, diarrhea deﬁned as: 3 or more unformed bowel movements in 24 hours for a minimum of 2 days with no other causes for diarrhea. Subjects will be required to have laboratory or pathology-confirmed diagnosis of recurrent C. difficile infection where recurrence is deﬁned as return of diarrhea and positive stool test after a period of symptom resolution within 8 weeks of the first episode and has received at least a 10-day course of standard antibiotic therapy.

Patient exclusion criteria

1. Planned or actively participating in another clinical trial.
2. Patients with neutropenia with absolute neutrophil count \<0.5 x 109/L
3. Evidence of toxic megacolon or gastrointestinal perforation on abdominal x-ray
4. Peripheral white blood cell count \> 30.0 x 10E9/L AND temperature \> 38.0 oC
5. Active gastroenteritis due to Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli 0157H7, Yersinia or Campylobacter.
6. Presence of colostomy
7. Unable to tolerate HBT or enema for any reason.
8. Requiring systemic antibiotic therapy for more than 7 days.
9. Actively taking Saccharomyces boulardii
10. Severe underlying disease such that the patient is not expected to survive for at least 30 days.
11. Any condition that, in the opinion of the investigator, that the treatment may pose a health risk to the subject.

Donor inclusion

1. Able to provide and sign informed consent.
2. Able to complete and sign the donor questionnaire
3. Able to adhere to fecal transplantation stool collection standard operating procedure.

Donor exclusion

1. Tested positive for any of the following: Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 1/2, hepatitis IgM, hepatitis B (HBsAg), hepatitis C antibody, syphilis, human T- lymphotrophic virus (HTLV) 1/II and vancomycin resistant Enterococcus (VRE), methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA), Salmonella, Shigella, E.coli O157 H7, Yersinia and Campylobacter.
2. Detection of ova, parasites, C. difficile toxin, norovirus, adenovirus, rotavirus on stool examination
3. History of any type of active cancer or autoimmune disease
4. History of risk factors for acquisition of HIV, syphilis, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, prion or any neurological disease as determined by the donor questionnaire, appendix B.
5. History of gastrointestinal comorbidities, e.g., inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation or diarrhea
6. Receipt of blood transfusion from a country other than Canada in preceding 6 months
7. Antibiotic use or any systemic immunosuppressive agents in the 3 months prior to stool donation
8. Receipt of any type of live vaccine within 3 months prior to stool donation
9. Ingestion of nut or shell fish 3 days preceding donation if the recipient has known allergies to these food.
10. Any current or previous medical or psychosocial condition or behaviours which in the opinion of the investigator may pose risk to the recipients or the donor
B: Inclusion Criteria:

for UC

1. Patients should be in the age range of 18 - 70 years;
2. Patients should have clinical, imaging, endoscopic and histological diagnosis of UC;
3. Patients should have a UCDAI score of more than 2 and less than 10 or stage at S1/S2 in Montreal Rank at enrollment;
4. Patients receiving a stable dose of concomitant medication (aminosalicylates, oral corticosteroids) for at least 4 weeks are eligible;
5. Patients are capable of providing written informed consent and obtained at the time of enrollment;
6. Patients are willing to adhere to the study visit schedule and other protocol requirements.

for CD:

1. Patients should be in the age range of 18 - 40 years;
2. Patients should have clinical, imaging, endoscopic and histological diagnosis of early CD\*;
3. Patients should have a CDAI score of more than 150 and less than 400and have a C-reactive protein (CRP) level of more than10mg/L at enrollment;
4. Patients receiving a stable dose of concomitant medication (aminosalicylates, oral corticosteroids) for at least 4 weeks are eligible;
5. Patients are capable of providing written informed consent and obtained at the time of enrollment;
6. Patients are willing to adhere to the study visit schedule and other protocol requirements.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Women who are pregnant or lactating at the time of enrollment, or who intend to be during the study period
2. Patients may confuse the findings or there exist any other additional risk history
3. Patients with end-stage disease or is expected likely to die during the study
4. Patients are participating in other clinical trials or participated within 3 months prior to transplantation
5. Outbreaks, infectious (viruses, bacteria, parasites, or other microorganisms) colitis, scheduled for abdominal surgery,take probiotics / prebiotics / synbiotics / antibiotic / PPI (past 1 month) orally, severe anemia (Hbg \<6g/dl), heart cerebrovascular accident, bypass, stent implantation surgery in the last 6 months, coagulation disorders, immune suppression status (defined as: immunosuppressive drugs, a history of opportunistic infections within one year recurrent ,oral ulcers, multiple lymphadenopathy, neutropenia, etc.), major abdominal transplant surgery in the last 3 months, have took TNF-α monoclonal antibody 2 month before transplantation or planned to take within one month after transplantation, a history of megacolon -
C: Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients with recurrent or relapsing CDI defined as EITHER(13):

  * At least three episodes of mild-to-moderate CDI and failure of a 6-8 week taper with vancomycin with or without an alternative antibiotic (e.g. rifaximin, nitazoxanide).
  * At least two episodes of severe CDI resulting in hospitalization and associated with significant morbidity.
* Willingness to accept risk of unrelated donor stool
* Willingness to be randomized to NGT vs. colonoscopic delivery.
* Able to consent for self, or parental assent/child assent as age appropriate.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Anatomic contraindication to NGT
* Delayed gastric emptying syndrome
* Known chronic aspiration
* Contraindication to colonoscopy (ASA 4 or more)
* High risk of bacterial translocation (Immunosuppression, cirrhosis etc)
* Pregnant or breastfeeding women
* Acute unrelated infection or comorbid illness exaccerbation
D: Inclusion Criteria:

1. Adult outpatients (age ≥18 and \<75) referred to one of the study centers after suffering a third (or further) documented episode CDI and
2. who have failed to maintain CDI cure after standard therapy with oral vancomycin.

   * Previous treatment with at least one course of tapered/pulse dose vancomycin as per SHEA-IDSA C difficile treatment guidelines or -Inability to taper or stop vancomycin without developing diarrhea requiring anti-infective therapy. -

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients who are aged 75 years or greater.
* Patients who are pregnant
* Patients who are nursing
* Patients who are incarcerated
* Patients with cognitive impairment or severe neuropsychiatric co morbidities who are incapable of giving their own informed consent
* Patients who are immunocompromised specifically:
* HIV infection (any CD4 count)
* AIDS-defining diagnosis or CD4\<200/mm3
* Inherited/primary immune disorders
* Immunodeficient or Immunosuppressed due to medical condition/medication:
* Current or recent (\<3 most) treatment with anti-neoplastic agent
* Current or recent (\<3 mos) treatment with any immunosuppressant medications (including but not limited to monoclonal antibodies to B and T cells, anti-TNF agents, glucocorticoids, antimetabolites (azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine), calcineurin inhibitors (tacrolimus, cyclosporine), mycophenolate mofetil). Subjects who are otherwise immunocompetent and have discontinued any immunosuppressant medications 3 or more months prior to enrollment may be eligible to enroll.
* Patients with a history of severe (anaphylactic) food allergy
* Patients who have previously undergone FMT
* Patients who are unwilling or unable to undergo colonoscopy
* Patients with untreated, in-situ colorectal cancer
* Patients with a history of inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis, Crohn"s disease or microscopic colitis) or irritable bowel syndrome
* Unable to comply with protocol requirements
* Patients who are American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Physical Status classification IV and V
* Patients with acute illness or fever on the day of planned FMT will be excluded (not undergo randomization or treatment with FMT) with the option of including that subject at a future date.

Answer: D