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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Neurosci.

Sec. Gut-Brain Axis

Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1639911

Safety and efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation in the treatment of Parkinson's disease: A systematic review of clinical trials

Provisionally accepted
Ran  ChenRan Chen*Kewei  ChenKewei ChenLirong  SunLirong SunYilian  LiuYilian Liu
  • Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease with limited treatment options and increasing incidence. The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (MGBA) offers new insights for PD treatment, as gut microbiota imbalances are linked to PD. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) shows potential to improve gut dysbiosis and has gained attention for PD treatment.We conducted a review following PRISMA 2009 guidelines, searching PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Scopus up to December 1, 2024. We included clinical trials of FMT for PD patients, regardless of stage or type, with outcomes related to efficacy or safety. Non-clinical trials were excluded. Two investigators independently assessed studies, extracted data, and evaluated risk of bias and quality. A total of 1,147 articles were retrieved, and six studies involving 104 patients were included. Four were randomized controlled trials, one was a cohort study, and one was a case series. Patients had a mean age of 63.2 years and disease duration of 5.6 years. After FMT, some patients showed improvements in UPDRS scores, H-Y grades, NMSS scores, and constipation symptoms, but results varied across studies. No serious FMT-related adverse events occurred. Most were mild gastrointestinal issues. Gut microbiota diversity and beneficial bacterial abundance changed after FMT, correlating with clinical outcomes. FMT materials were mostly from unrelated donors with diverse preparation and delivery methods. FMT shows efficacy and safety in PD treatment but is insufficient as a standard due to study heterogeneity and small sample sizes. Future research needs larger samples, unified tools, and standardized FMT procedures. Combining FMT with other therapies may improve efficacy.

Keywords: Parkinson's disease, fecal microbiota transplantation, microbiota, review - systematic, Efficacy & safety

Received: 10 Jun 2025; Accepted: 05 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Chen, Sun and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Ran Chen, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.