C. difficile strains with higher toxins levels induced an increased activation of the innate immune system and may activate macrophages more profoundly resulting in secretion of higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. However, higher toxin levels may also damage macrophages' normal skele …

Thank you to the @AmCollegeGastro for this award! I’m excited to continue researching #Cdiff in #IBD. Big thank you to my mentors @UMichGIHep @UMichResearch Nobu Kamada @ibddoctor @a2binny Krishna Rao! Also thanks to @umfoodoc for a division that supports junior faculty! https://t.co/CaSNQCdG57— Kira Newman, MD, PhD (@KiraNewmanMDPhD) March 1, 2023

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a human herpes-type virus with variable clinical manifestations. Infections in immunocompetent patients are usually asymptomatic or mild, and severe infections are gener...

It's unknown whether clinical remission in patients with microscopic colitis is related to lavage-induced changes. New findings suggest that fecal microbial changes are not due to microscopic colitis itself but associated with stool form https://t.co/I8n7ObquZA— GutMicrobiota Health (@GMFHx) March 2, 2023

A recent animal study adds urgency to the fight against Clostridioides difficile infection, finding that the bacterium may be driving some colorectal cancers, which have risen among people younger than 50.

Clostridium perfringens type C and Clostridioides difficile are the main enteric clostridial pathogens of swine and are both responsible for neonatal diarrhea in this species. The role of Clostridum perfringes type A is under discussion. History, clinical signs, gross lesions and histological findin …

TCdA and TCdB affect directly the contractile reactivity of isolated rat colon smooth muscle. TCdA has a stronger direct effect on smooth muscle sensitivity to acetylcholine and 5-HT than TCdB. Such a trend has not been established for dopamine and norepinephrine.

Antibiotics can disrupt the flora of the gut or the gut microbiome. This can lead to gastrointestinal symptoms in some people, including constipation. Learn more here.

C. difficile is the primary cause for nosocomial infective diarrhoea. For a successful infection, C. difficile must navigate between resident gut bacteria and the harsh host environment. The perturbation of the intestinal microbiota by broad-spectrum antibiotics alters the composition …

Clostridioides difficile, a nosocomial pathogen, is an emerging gut pathobiont causing antibiotic-associated diarrhea. C. difficile infection involves gut colonization and disruption of the gut epithelial barrier, leading to the induction of inflammatory/immune responses. The expressio …

Some families of mobile elements in bacterial genomes encode not only a transposase but also an accessory TnpB gene. This gene has been shown to encode an RNA-guided DNA endonuclease, co-evolving with Y1 transposase and serine recombinase in mobile elements IS605 and IS607. In this pap …

Clostridioides difficile, a nosocomial pathogen, is an emerging gut pathobiont causing antibiotic-associated diarrhea. C. difficile infection involves gut colonization and disruption of the gut epithelial barrier, leading to the induction of inflammatory/immune responses. The expressio …

Study showed how Enterococcus fine tunes the environment around C. diff, restricting some nutrients and supplying others, to increase its fitness and virulence.

Understanding the interactions between C. difficile and the human gut offers new opportunities for heading off potentially fatal infections.

Risk factors for extraintestinal CDI include prior hospital stay, prolonged antibiotic therapy, proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use, relative state of immunodeficiency such as malnutrition and diabetes mellitus, previous abdominal surgery especially following perforation and leak of intestinal content.P …

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a human herpes-type virus with variable clinical manifestations. Infections in immunocompetent patients are usually asymptomatic or mild, and severe infections are gener...

Given the high prevalence of intestinal disease in humans and animals, there is a strong need for clinically relevant models recapitulating gastrointestinal systems, ideally replacing in vivo models in accordance with the principles of the 3R. We established a canine organoid system and analysed the …

Given the high prevalence of intestinal disease in humans and animals, there is a strong need for clinically relevant models recapitulating gastrointestinal systems, ideally replacing in vivo models in accordance with the principles of the 3R. We established a canine organoid system and analysed the …

Clostridioides difficile, a nosocomial pathogen, is an emerging gut pathobiont causing antibiotic-associated diarrhea. C. difficile infection involves gut colonization and disruption of the gut epithelial barrier, leading to the induction of inflammatory/immune responses. The expressio …

Diarrhea remains a common problem in clinical practice and attention must be paid to modifiable risk factors. Further research is needed on interventions to decrease its burden.

Risk factors for extraintestinal CDI include prior hospital stay, prolonged antibiotic therapy, proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use, relative state of immunodeficiency such as malnutrition and diabetes mellitus, previous abdominal surgery especially following perforation and leak of intestinal content.P …

Clostridioides difficile is the major cause of nosocomial diarrhea, which are associated with gut microbiome dysbiosis. Biofilms of C. difficile have been progressively linked to the pathogenesis of this bacterium and the recurrences of its infections. Though the number of conditions in which C. difficile biofilms are being produced is increasing, little is known about how and when biofilms are formed in the gut. Here we report that succinate, a metabolite abundantly produced by the dysbiotic gut microbiota, induces in vitro biofilm formation of C. difficile strains. We characterized the morphology and spatial composition of succinate-induced biofilms, and compared to non-induced or deoxycholate-induced biofilms, biofilms induced by succinate are significantly thicker, structurally more complex, and poorer in proteins and exopolysaccharides (EPS). We then applied transcriptomics and genetics to characterize the early stages of succinate-induced biofilm formation and we showed that succinate-induced biofilm results from major metabolic shifts and cell-wall composition changes. Similar to deoxycholate-induced biofilms, biofilms induced by succinate depend on the presence of a rapidly metabolized sugar. Finally, although succinate can be consumed by the bacteria, we found that the extracellular succinate is in fact responsible for the induction of biofilm formation through complex regulation involving global metabolic regulators and the osmotic stress response. In the context of human gut dysbiosis, succinate can limit bacterial infections through the control of innate immune responses. Collectively, our results suggest that succinate is an intestinal signal which can drive the biofilm formation and persistence of C. difficile in the gut and increase the risk of relapse. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

Following treatment with penicillin V, we observed decreased susceptibility to ampicillin and third-generation cephalosporins, and prolonged colonization with non-Escherichia coli Gram-negative species. These findings challenge the perception that penicillin V has limited ecological effect on …

Cell wall glycopolymers (CWPGs) in Gram-positive bacteria have been reported to be involved in several bacterial processes. These polymers, pillars for proteins and S-layer, are essential for the bacterial surface setup, could be essential for growth, and, in pathogens, participate most often in vir …

BMI of an individual does not appear to be associated with the severity of CDI.

Risk factors for extraintestinal CDI include prior hospital stay, prolonged antibiotic therapy, proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use, relative state of immunodeficiency such as malnutrition and diabetes mellitus, previous abdominal surgery especially following perforation and leak of intestinal content.P …

IBD patients with CDI had pronounced microbial dysbiosis. Gut micro-ecological changes in IBD patients with CDI might provide insight into the pathological process and potential strategies for diagnosis and treatment in this subset of patients.

The global coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused significant morbidity and mortality, thoroughly affected daily living, and caused severe economic disruption throughout the world. Pulmonary symptoms predominate and account for most of the associated morbidity and mortality. However …