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Balancing the risks and rewards of live biotherapeutics

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From Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

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Live biotherapeutics have been used clinically both as defined probiotics and as undefined faecal microbiota transplants. Two new studies illustrate the risks of administering live microorganisms to highly compromised patients. These risks should be considered in the context of the potential therapeutic value of these treatments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. APC Microbiome Ireland & School of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

    Colin Hill

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  1. Colin Hill
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Correspondence to Colin Hill.

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Competing interests

C.H. is a board member of the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP).

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Hill, C. Balancing the risks and rewards of live biotherapeutics. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 17, 133–134 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-019-0254-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-019-0254-3

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