title: Donor Recruitment for Fecal Microbiota Transplantation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Increasing demand for fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has created a need for stool banks sourced from long-term healthy donors. Here, we describe our experience in recruiting and screening fecal donors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mailbox, newspaper, and online advertisements were used. Potential donors were required to satisfy a prescreen telephone conversation, pass blood and stool investigations, then undertake a screening interview including medical history, physical examination, and evaluation of donor selection criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred sixteen potential donors were prescreened of whom 74 failed-47 declined based on study donation requirements (primarily related to frequency and duration of donations), 13 had medical comorbidities, 6 variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease risk factors, 8 for other reasons. Thirty-eight completed stool and blood testing-1 failed blood testing (indeterminate hepatitis C serology), whereas 15 failed stool investigations (5 Dientamoeba fragilis, 5 Blastocystis hominis, 1 B. hominis and D. fragilis, 1 Giardia intestinalis plus D. fragilis, 1 Norovirus plus Clostridium difficile toxin positive, and 2 leucocytes or erythrocytes on stool microscopy). Of the 18 potential donors proceeding to screening interview, 6 were excluded (3 body mass index >30, 1 illicit drug use, 1 uncontrolled anxiety and concerns regarding compliance, 1 irregular bowel movements after new medication commencement). In total, only 12 of 116 (10%) potential donors were enrolled as study donors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recruitment of fecal donors for FMT is challenging with only a small percentage ultimately serving as donors. Many were unable or unwilling to meet the donor commitment requirements. A surprisingly large proportion of healthy asymptomatic donors failed stool testing, primarily due to gastrointestinal parasites.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, Australia; †Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Bankstown Lidcombe Hospital, Sydney, Australia; ‡Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Nambour General Hospital, Nambour, Australia; §School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; ‖Centre for Digestive Diseases, Sydney, Australia; ¶Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, Australia; **Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne and University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; and ††Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Sudarshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paramsothy
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Borody
authors.forename: Enmoore
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Finlayson
authors.forename: Alissa J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Samuel
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van den Bogaerde
authors.forename: Rupert W L
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Leong
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Connor
authors.forename: Watson
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Hazel M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Nadeem
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kaakoush
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kamm
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000069467:Fecal Microbiota Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D064307:Microbiota; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult