Surface-displayed glycopolymers of Clostridioides difficile
Clostridioides difficile is a leading cause of the healthcare-associated disease C. difficile infection (CDI), which has an annual US burden of over 200 000 cases. CDI mitigation strategies have been complicated by the emergence, and widespread distribution, of phylogenetically diverse lineages, as …
Outcomes, Disease Severity in Patients With Clostridioides difficile Infection With Binary Toxin-Expressing Strains - Infectious Disease Advisor
Investigators conducted a study that assessed disease severity and outcomes in patients with Clostridioides difficile infection with C difficile binary toxin-expressing strains.
Cellular adaptation of Clostridioides difficile to high salinity encompasses a compatible solute-responsive change in cell morphology
Infections by the pathogenic gut bacterium Clostridioides difficile cause severe diarrheas up to a toxic megacolon and are currently among the major causes of lethal bacterial infections. Successful bacterial propagation in the gut is strongly associated with the adaptation to changing nutrition-cau …
Detection of Newly Secreted Antibodies Predicts Non-recurrence in Primary Clostridioides difficile Infection
Background: Within eight weeks of primary Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), as many as 30% of patients develop recurrent disease with the associated risks of multiple relapses, morbidity, and economic burden. There are no clear clinical correlates or validated biomarkers …
Obesity is not associated with adverse outcomes among hospitalized patients with Clostridioides difficile infection
We found no association between obesity and death among patients with CDI, in contrast to most other infections. Obesity is not likely to be useful for risk-stratifying hospitalized patients with CDI.
Clostridioides difficile Infection Is Associated with Adverse Outcomes among Hospitalized Pediatric Patients with Acute Pancreatitis
CDI in pediatric patients with AP is associated with adverse clinical outcomes and increased healthcare resource utilization. Further studies are needed to elucidate this association to prevent the development of CDI and to improve outcomes.
VIDEO: Changes in duodenal microbiome linked to aging
In a Healio video exclusive, Ruchi Mathur, MD, of the Medically Associated Science and Technology Program at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, discussed how the aging process is associated with changes to the small intestinal microbiome. Mathur and colleagues studied duodenal aspirates in 251 patients, aged 18 to 80 years, and observed decreased microbial diversity in older patients, driven by
Multi-omics investigation of Clostridioides difficile-colonized patients reveals pathogen and commensal correlates of C. difficile pathogenesis
Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) imposes a substantial burden on the health care system in the United States. Understanding the biological basis for the spectrum of C. difficile-related disease manifestations is imperative to improving treatment and prevention of CDI. Here, we …
Long COVID Linked to Unbalanced Gut Microbiome: What to Know Now - Healthline
The composition of the gut microbiome is "strongly" linked with long-COVID symptoms months after a person recovers from their initial infection, a new study shows.
Mechanisms and impact of antimicrobial resistance in Clostridioides difficile
The evolution of antimicrobial resistance in Clostridioides difficile has markedly shaped its epidemiology and detrimentally impacted patient care. C. difficile exhibits resistance to multiple classes of antimicrobials, due to accumulation of horizontally acquired resistance genes and de novo mutati …
Rare toxin A-negative and toxin B-positive strain of Clostridioides difficile from Japan lacking a complete tcdA gene
We isolated a rare strain of C. difficile producing only toxin B and lacking a complete tcdA gene herein Japan. The possibility of a false negative needs to be considered with a genetic method for a diagnose of C. difficile infection.
Bacterial Gut Microbiota and Infections During Early Childhood
Gut microbiota composition during the first years of life is variable, dynamic and influenced by both prenatal and postnatal factors, such as maternal antibiotics administered during labor, delivery mode, maternal diet, breastfeeding, and/or antibiotic consumption during infancy. Furthermore, the mi …
New insights into the Type A glycan modification of Clostridioides difficile flagellar protein flagellin C by phosphoproteomics analysis
The type A glycan modification found in human pathogen Clostridioides difficile consists of a monosaccharide (GlcNAc) that is linked to an N-methylated threonine through a phosphodiester bond. This structure has previously been described on the flagellar protein flagellin C of several C. difficile s …
Role of Glycosyltransferases Modifying Type B Flagellin of Emerging Hypervirulent Clostridium difficile Lineages and Their Impact on Motility and Biofilm Formation
Clostridium difficile is the principal cause of nosocomial infectious diarrhea worldwide. The pathogen modifies its flagellin with either a type A or type B O-linked glycosylation system, which has a contributory role in pathogenesis. We study the functional role of glycosyltransferases modifying ty …
Development and Validation of a Novel Microbiome-Based Biomarker of Post-antibiotic Dysbiosis and Subsequent Restoration
Background: The human gut microbiota are important to health and wellness, and disrupted microbiota homeostasis, or "dysbiosis," can cause or contribute to many gastrointestinal disease states. Dysbiosis can be caused by many factors, most notably antibiotic treatment. To correct dysbiosis an …
Diagnostic Imaging and Medical Management of Acute Left-Sided Colonic Diverticulitis: A Systematic Review: Annals of Internal Medicine: Vol 0, No 0 - Annals of Internal Medicine
Background: Clinicians need to better understand the value of computed tomography (CT) imaging and nonsurgical treatment options to manage acute left-sided colonic diverticulitis. Purpose: To evaluate CT imaging, outpatient treatment of uncomplicated diverticulitis, antibiotic treatment, and interventional radiology for patients with complicated diverticulitis. Data Sources: MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Embase, CINAHL, and ClinicalTrials.gov from 1 January 1990 through 16 November 2020. Study Selection: Existing systematic reviews of CT imaging accuracy, as well as randomized trials and adjusted nonrandomized comparative studies reporting clinical or patient-centered outcomes. Data Extraction: 6 researchers extracted study data and risk of bias, which were verified by an independent researcher. The team assessed strength of evidence across studies. Data Synthesis: Based on moderate-strength evidence, CT imaging is highly accurate for diagnosing acute diverticulitis. For patients with uncomplicated acute diverticulitis, 6 studies provide low-strength evidence that initial outpatient and inpatient management have similar risks for recurrence or elective surgery, but they provide insufficient evidence regarding other outcomes. Also, for patients with uncomplicated acute diverticulitis, 5 studies comparing antibiotics versus no antibiotics provide low-strength evidence that does not support differences in risks for treatment failure, elective surgery, recurrence, posttreatment complications, and other outcomes. Evidence is insufficient to determine choice of antibiotic regimen (7 studies) or effect of percutaneous drainage (2 studies). Limitations: The evidence base is mostly of low strength. Studies did not adequately assess heterogeneity of treatment effect. Conclusion: Computed tomography imaging is accurate for diagnosing acute diverticulitis. For patients with uncomplicated diverticulitis, no differences in outcomes were found between outpatient and inpatient care. Avoidance of antibiotics for uncomplicated acute diverticulitis may be safe for most patients. The evidence is too sparse for other evaluated questions. Primary Funding Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and American College of Physicians. (PROSPERO: CRD42020151246)
Basis of narrow-spectrum activity of fidaxomicin on gut pathogen Clostridioides difficile
Fidaxomicin (Fdx) is widely used to treat Clostridioides difficile ( Cdiff ) infections (CDIs), but the molecular basis of its narrow-spectrum activity in the human gut microbiome remains enigmatic. CDIs are a leading cause of nosocomial deaths. Fdx, which inhibits RNA polymerase (RNAP), targets Cdiff with minimal effects on gut commensals, reducing CDI recurrence. Here, we present the cryo-electron microscopy structure of Cdiff RNAP in complex with Fdx, allowing us to identify a crucial Fdx-binding determinant of Cdiff RNAP that is absent in most gut microbiota like Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. By combining structural, biochemical, and bioinformatic analyses, we establish that a single RNAP residue is a sensitizing element for Fdx narrow-spectrum activity. Our results provide a blueprint for targeted drug design against an important human pathogen. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.
In conclusion: there is no ideal fluorescent system for #cdiff live cell imaging among those tested. The best system imho (#SNAP) still has the drawback of requiring a #substrate for fluorescence. 8/9
In conclusion: there is no ideal fluorescent system for #cdiff live cell imaging among those tested. The best system imho (#SNAP) still has the drawback of requiring a #substrate for fluorescence. 8/9— Wiep Klaas Smits (@SmitsLab) January 18, 2022
The last chapter of @AnaMOPaiva 's thesis is now published in @AvlJom; have a look for our observations on fluorescent #microscopy systems for #cdiff - short 🧵on our major findings https://t.co/mpjA1RvNls 1/9— Wiep Klaas Smits (@SmitsLab) January 18, 2022
Practical observations on the use of fluorescent reporter systems in Clostridioides difficile
Fluorescence microscopy is a valuable tool to study a broad variety of bacterial cell components and dynamics thereof. For Clostridioides difficile, the fluorescent proteins CFPopt, mCherryOpt and phiLOV2.1, and the self-labelling tags SNAPCd and HaloTag, hereafter c …
Ferring tool tracks antibiotic effect on gut microbiota - NutraIngredients.com
A prototype biomarker that recognises antibiotic-induced gut dysbiosis has been created by a team from Ferring Pharmaceuticals, who believe the tool could help in developing future biotherapeutics.
