Iron fortification to prevent anemia in African infants increases colonic iron levels, favoring the growth of enteropathogens. The use of prebiotics may be an effective strategy to reduce these detrimental effects. Using the African infant PolyFermS gut model, we compared the effect of the prebiotic …

Aim Diarrhea is a common disease in immunocompromised patients and can be associated with greater morbidity and even mortality. Therefore, the present study was designed to determine the prevalence of Aeromonas spp., Campylobacter spp., and C. difficile among immunocompromised children. Methods This study was conducted on 130 stool samples from patients with diarrhea who had defects in the immune system and were referred to Hazrat Masoumeh Children’s Hospital in Qom. Demographic information, clinical symptoms, immune status, and duration of chemotherapy were also recorded for each child. DNAs were extracted from the stool, and then direct PCR assays were done by specific primers for the detection of Aeromonas spp., Campylobacter spp., and toxigenic C. difficile, including tcdA/B and cdtA/B genes. Co-infection in patients was also evaluated. Results 60.8% and 39.2% were male and female, respectively, with a m ± SD age of 56.72 ± 40.49 months. Most cases of immunocompromised states were related to Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (77.7%) and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (14.6%). 93.1% of patients were undergoing chemotherapy during the study. Among patients, most clinical symptoms were related to bloody diarrhea (98.5%) and fever (92.3%). Based on PCR, 14.6, 9.2, and 1.5% were positive for Aeromonas spp., C. difficile, and C. jejuni, respectively. Among the C. difficile-positive cases, the tcdA gene was only detected in one patient. In total, three co-infections were identified, which included Aeromonas spp./C. difficile (tcdA+), C. jejuni/C. difficile, and C. jejuni/Aeromonas spp. Conclusions This is the first study in Iran to investigate the simultaneous prevalence of some pathogens in immunocompromised children with diarrhea. Because Aeromonas spp., Campylobacter spp., and C. difficile are not routinely detected in some laboratories, infections caused by them are underappreciated in the clinic. Our results showed that these pathogens are present in our region and can cause gastroenteritis in children, especially those with underlying diseases. Therefore, increasing the level of hygiene in some areas and controlling bacterial diarrheal diseases should be given more attention by health officials.

Clostridioides (formerly Clostridium) difficile is a leading cause of infectious diarrhea associated with antibiotic therapy. The ability of this anaerobic pathogen to acquire enough iron to proliferate under iron limitation conditions imposed by the host largely determines its pathogenicity. Howeve …

Vedanta Biosciences dosed the first subject in the Phase III RESTORATiVE303 trial of VE303 for preventing recurrent C. difficile infection.

Clostridioides difficile in pseudofolliculitis barbae patients: a retrospective cohort study

Disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI) are common chronic conditions characterized by persistent and recurring gastrointestinal symptoms triggered by several pathophysiological factors, including an altered gut microbiota. The most common DGBI are irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional consti …

Intestinal microbiota disorders induced by HFD can damage the intestinal barrier of rats, change the serum metabolic profile, induce low-grade inflammation and apoptosis in the corpus cavernosum of the penis, and lead to ED.

At Digestive Disease Week, Paul Feuerstadt MD, FACG, AGAF and fellow investigators explore the potential impact of non-antibiotic medications on gut health and their association with recurrent CDI.

Clostridium difficile infections are the most widely recognized cause of hospital acquired infectious diarrhea. There is a critical need for...

Cure rates associated with vancomycin for Clostridioides difficile infection have declined from nearly 100% in the early 2000s to 70% in recent years.

Response to comments on the tolerance to Clostridioides difficile spores to sodium hypochlorite disinfection

First real-world outcomes data and new analyses of data for REBYOTA® (fecal microbiota, live – jslm) presented at DDW 2024

Improving Early Detection of Clostridioides difficile Infections Through Electronic Reports

MGPP testing is most useful when administered at hospital admission or as an outpatient. Since MGPP is sensitive and does not distinguish between colonization and causes of diarrhea, caution is needed in interpretation of results, especially for toxin negative C. difficile and diarrheagenic gram-neg …

Among cardiovascular diseases, hypertension is the most important risk factor for morbidity and mortality worldwide, and its pathogenesis is complex, involving genetic, dietary and environmental factors. The characteristics of the gut microbiota can vary in response to increased blood pressure (BP) …

First-line antihypertensive drugs induced different modifications of gut integrity and gut dysbiosis in SHR, which result in no contribution of microbiota in the BP lowering effects of hydrochlorothiazide, whereas the vasculo-protective effect induced by amlodipine involves gut microbiota reshaping …

PureTech Health (GB:PRTC) has released an update. Vedanta Biosciences, an entity founded by PureTech Health, has initiated the Phase 3 RESTORATiVE303 trial for thei...

A group of bacterial proteases, the Pro-Pro endopeptidases (PPEPs), possess the unique ability to hydrolyze proline-proline bonds in proteins. Since a protease's function is largely determined by its substrate specificity, methods that can extensively characterize substrate specificity are valuable …

Gastroenteritis is inflammation of the stomach and intestines; colitis is inflammation of the colon. Viruses are the most common cause, followed by bacteria and parasites. Incidence of the various infections varies by age, sex, location, and vaccine availability; vaccination has reduced rotavirus in …

Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) is a major complication of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) associated with gut microbiota disruptions. However, whether therapeutic microbiota modulation prevents aGVHD is unknown. We conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of …

Clostridioides difficile (CD) is one of the most common pathogens causing health-care-associated infectious diarrhea and is listed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an urgent antibiotic resistance (AR) threat. Many resistance genes can be transferred between different CD stra …

Background: Infectious diseases (ID) pharmacists are pivotal members of antimicrobial stewardship teams. Prospective audit and feedback is a strong recommendation by The Infectious Diseases Society of America Guidelines for Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASP). Utilizing customized ASP in …

Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI) are prevalent in healthcare settings and are associated with high recurrence rates. Therapies to prevent CDI, including recent FDA-approved live biotherapeutic products, are costly and have not been used to prevent primary infections. While a nontoxig …

Despite the increasing scientific interest and expanding role of gut microbiota (GM) in human health, it is rarely reported in case reports and deployed in clinical practice. Proteins and metabolites produced by microbiota contribute to immune system development, energy homeostasis and digestion. Ex …

Clostridioides difficile may have a negative impact on gut microbiota composition in terms of diversity and abundance, thereby triggering functional changes supported by the differential presence of genes involved in significant metabolic pathways, such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). This work h …

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is one of the leading causes of healthcare- and antibiotic-associated diarrhea. While fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has emerged as a promising therapy for recurrent CDI, its exact mechanisms of action and long-term safety are not fully underst …

Michael Harrop started an underground poop-trading empire. But something smells off about his product.

Newly discovered iron storage “ferrosomes” inside the bacterium C. diff — the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections — are important for infection in an animal model and could offer new targets for antibacterial drugs. They also represent a rare demonstration of a membrane-bound structure inside a pathogenic bacterium, upsetting the biological dogma that bacteria do not contain organelles. 

Antimicrobial stewardship to reduce multidrug resistance and opportunistic Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) could also guide shorter treatment.

Recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) results in significant morbidity and mortality. We previously established that CDI in mice does not protect against reinfection and is associated with poor pathogen-specific B cell memory (Bmem), recapitulating our observations with human Bmem. Here …