The Papin Lab makes it possible to apply the understanding of the nature of the bacteria to new treatment options for C. difficile bacterial infection. 

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in humans causes pseudomembranous colitis (PMC), which is a severe pathology characterized by a loss of epithelial barrier function and massive colonic inflammation. PMC has been attributed to the action of two large protein toxins, Toxin A (TcdA) and …

Gastrointestinal illnesses and dysbiosis are among the most common comorbidities reported in patients with neurodevelopmental disorders. The manuscript reports that C. difficile infection (CDI), predisposed by antibiotic-induced gut dysbiosis, causes significant alterations in dopamine metabolism in …

Clostridioides difficile secretes Toxin B (TcdB) as one of its major virulence factors, which binds to intestinal epithelial and subepithelial receptors, including frizzled proteins and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 (CSPG4). Here, we present cryo-EM structures of full-length TcdB in complex wit …

The prevalence of C. difficile in children with diarrhoea was high (37.8%) although the proportion of toxigenic strains was comparatively low. The clinical significance of any isolate needs to be determined.

The presence of antigen-specific and neutralizing antibodies was not associated with Clostridioides difficile infection symptoms, severity, therapy approach, treatment response, or recurrences in a new exploratory study.

Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile is one of the leading causes of nosocomial diarrhea. Lysozyme is a common host defense against many pathogenic bacteria. C. difficile exhibits high levels of lysozyme resistance, which is due in part to the extracytoplasmic functioning (ECF) σ factor, σV …

Are you a UK resident #BlackStudent with an interest in #superbugs #microbiology #biochemistry or #structuralbiology and wanting to do a #PhD? Contact me if you'd like to join us studying #Cdiff and apply for a @UniofNewcastle #PhDstudentship https://t.co/BwxIrT4JKl Pls RT/share— Paula Salgado (@pssalgado) March 21, 2022

For the first time, a research team mapped C difficile’s outer “S-layer,” finding the dangerous bacteria’s chainmail-like shell enables it to be highly resistant.

Symptoms of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) are attributed largely to two toxins, TcdA and TcdB. About 17-23% of C. difficile isolates produce binary toxin, which enhances C. difficile pathogenesis. Previously, we engineered the nontoxigenic C. difficile strain CCUG37785 (designated as CCUG …

A chainmail-like, flexible outer layer on Clostridium difficile may explain its success at defending itself against antibiotics.

Clostridioides difficile toxin A and B (TcdA and TcdB) are two major virulence factors responsible for diseases associated with C. difficile infection (CDI). Here, we report the 3.18-Å resolution crystal structure of a TcdA fragment (residues L843-T2481), which advances our understandi …

Decreased effectiveness of metronidazole in Clostridioides difficile infection treatment has been documented. One reason is levels of metronidazole in the colon are generally low therefore a modest increase in the minimal inhibitory concentration of metronidazole for C. difficile may result in insuf …

The emergence of hypervirulent clade 2 Clostridioides difficile is associated with severe symptoms and accounts for 20% of global infections. TcdB is a dominant virulence factor of C. difficile, and clade 2 strains exclusively express two TcdB variants (TcdB2 and TcdB4) that use unknown receptor …

A closer look at pathogenesis and risk factors

Certain factors in the environment may cause ulcerative colitis flares. Learn more about the connections between these different factors and how to reduce their effect on symptoms.

ST 17 is most prominent sequence type. This is the first report of MLST based study of C. difficile from India. Further studies from diverse geographical regions can help better understand the epidemiology of CDI in India.

The recurrent CDI cohort were nearly 10 times likelier to suffer from a CDI-associated death than the primary CDI cohort.

The Papin Lab makes it possible to apply the understanding of the nature of the bacteria to new treatment options for C. difficile bacterial infection. 

A wide range of bacteria can synthesize surface-associated nanoparticles (SANs) through exogenous metal ions reacting with sulfide produced via cysteine metabolism, resulting in the emergence of a biological-nanoparticle hybrid (bionanohybrid). The attached nanoparticles may couple to extracellular …

This study describe a large nosocomial outbreak of Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI) dominated by ribotype (RT) 046 in a Swedish hospital. The aim of the present study was to examine the pathogenicity of this RT, explore epidemiological links by whole genome sequencing (WGS) and evalu …

With an annual incidence of 250-300 per 100,000 inhabitants, reactive arthritis is not uncommon. However, the fact that Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) can also lead to this complication is largely unknown. We report on a 69-years-old man who developed reactive arthritis of his right …

The "magic spot" alarmones (pp)pGpp, previously implicated in Clostridioides difficile antibiotic survival, are synthesized by the RelA-SpoT homolog (RSH) of C. difficile (RSHCd) and RelQCd. These enzymes are transcriptionally activated by diverse environmental stresses. RSH …

Original Article from The New England Journal of Medicine — Duodenal Infusion of Donor Feces for Recurrent Clostridium difficile