The role of gut microbiota in Clostridium difficile infection
Abstract
Clostridium difficile infection has emerged as a major health problem. Because it is a spore-forming microorganism, C. difficile is difficult to eradicate and recurrences of the infection are frequent. The strong association of CDI with prior use of antibiotics led to the recognition that disturbances in the gut microbiota apparently plays a central role in CDI. Except for antibiotics, several other risk factors for CDI have been recognised, such as advanced age and use of proton pump inhibitors. The common characteristic of these factors is that they are associated with changes in the composition of gut microbiota. Data from human studies have shown that the presence of C. difficile, either as a colonizer or as a pathogen, is associated with reduced microbiota diversity. C. difficile infection per se seems to be associated with changes in the representation of specific microbial populations (e.g. taxa) which either may act protectively against C. difficile colonization of the gut or may increase susceptibility for C. difficile infection. Therapeutic gut microbiota manipulation can be achieved by faecal microbiota transplantation, which is highly effective for the treatment of CDI.
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C. difficile infection occurs only when the microbiome has been altered by factors such as broad-spectrum antibiotics or recent gastrointestinal surgery.
“C. difficile infection occurs only in the setting of a microbiome that is altered by factors such as exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics or recent gastrointestinal surgery61.”
From Clinical metagenomics (2019) · cites this paper as [61]
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- Authors
- Samarkos, M., Mastrogianni, E., & Kampouropoulou, O.
- Affiliations
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (GR)
- Corresponding author
- Samarkos, Michael
- Venue
- European Journal of Internal Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-04
- Volume
- 50
- Pages
- 28-32
- ISSN
- 0953-6205 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2789348707
- Cited by
- 75
- References
- 72
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 1.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- European Journal of Internal Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
- Keywords
- Clostridium difficile infection, gut microbiota, microbiome diversity, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, proton pump inhibitors, risk factors, C. difficile colonization, fecal microbiota transplantation, recurrent infections
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Fecal Microbiota Transplantation, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Clostridium Infections, Humans, Proton Pump Inhibitors
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