How gut microbes and diet work together: A new approach to microbiota transplants

LI YAN TAN, BA '25, STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION

Could your diet be the missing link in microbiota transplant therapy? Researchers at the University of Minnesota think so. A new study, led by Levi Teigen, PhD, RD, a faculty member in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, explores how diet can shape and support gut microbiota during fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), or as Teigen and his team call it, microbiota transplant therapy (MTT). FMT is a medical procedure that involves transferring fecal material from a healthy donor to a recipient with an unhealthy gut microbiome.

FMT has gained attention as a promising treatment for conditions like recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections, but its potential applications extend even further. While researchers have long focused on the microbes themselves, Teigen’s study suggests that what we eat, both before and after a transplant could play a crucial role in the therapy’s success.

“FMT is still a relatively new field, and we’re just beginning to explore ways to optimize it,” says Teigen. “Given my background in clinical nutrition and microbiota therapeutics, our lab is in a unique position to lead research on how diet can enhance MTT outcomes.”

A New Way to Think About Diet and Transplants

Teigen and his team developed a conceptual framework to guide future research on diet and FMT. Their study highlights two key factors: the donor’s diet and the recipient’s diet. 

Prior to this research, little attention was given to how a donor’s diet might influence the microbes being transferred. Equally overlooked was the role of a recipient’s diet in helping transplanted microbes establish themselves in their new environment.

“We successfully pointed out that it’s not just about what microbes are being transferred, but also about how they function,” Teigen explains. “What a person eats can influence both the composition of gut bacteria and their metabolic activity.”

For example, a fiber-rich diet may help sustain beneficial bacteria from a transplant, while certain dietary patterns could hinder the therapy’s effectiveness. The study also stresses the importance of new approaches to dietary data collection, an area where Teigen’s team aims to make significant advancements.

FMT for Other Conditions

FMT is considered for a variety of other conditions, such as:

• Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
• Ulcerative Colitis
• Crohn’s Disease
• Metabolic Disorders
• Autoimmune Disorders

The Future of Precision Nutrition

What’s next for the team? Their ongoing research focuses on developing gut microbiome-based precision nutrition strategies, tailoring diet recommendations to optimize health of the gut microbiome. 

Teigen credits the strength of his research team, which includes experts from across the University of Minnesota, such as Abigail Johnson, PhD, RD, a specialist in diet-microbiome computational analysis, and Annie Lin, PhD, RD, an expert in nutrition informatics at the Hormel Institute.

“Our collaborative team is what makes this research truly unique,” Teigen says. “By combining expertise across clinical medicine, public health, and computational nutrition, we’re able to take a more comprehensive approach to understanding the gut microbiome and its relationship with diet.”

This research is paving the way for a more personalized approach to microbiota-based therapies, one that considers not just the microbes themselves, but the environment they live in.

For those looking to learn more, Teigen’s full study is available in The National Library of Medicine.