Long-term stability of Fecal Samples Stored in eNAT Medium

eNAT® (Copan Italia, Brescia, Italy) is a guanidine thiocyanate-based medium developed for the preservation and stabilization of DNA in clinical specimens used for nucleic acid tests. eNAT contains a detergent and a protein denaturant to completely inactivate microorganisms and does not require special shipping. In this study, we compared microbiome diversity and composition of fecal samples stored in a standard microbiome medium (RNAlater solution) to matched fecal samples stored in eNAT. As a secondary objective, we evaluated the stability of the gut microbiome in fecal samples stored in eNAT at ambient temperature.