Inhibiting the Initiation of Clostridium difficile Spore Germination using Analogs of Chenodeoxycholic Acid, a Bile Acid
Open accessAbstract
To cause disease, Clostridium difficile spores must germinate in the host gastrointestinal tract. Germination is initiated upon exposure to glycine and certain bile acids, e.g., taurocholate. Chenodeoxycholate, another bile acid, inhibits taurocholate-mediated germination. By applying Michaelis-Menten kinetic analysis to C. difficile spore germination, we found that chenodeoxycholate is a competitive inhibitor of taurocholate-mediated germination and appears to interact with the spores with greater apparent affinity than does taurocholate. We also report that several analogs of chenodeoxycholate are even more effective inhibitors. Some of these compounds resist 7α-dehydroxylation by Clostridium scindens , a core member of the normal human colonic microbiota, suggesting that they are more stable than chenodeoxycholate in the colonic environment.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Secondary bile acids can inhibit vegetative C. difficile growth.
“These secondary bile acids can inhibit vegetative C. difficile growth [53–55].”
From Role of the gut microbiota in nutrient competition and protection against intestinal pathogen colonization (2023) · cites this paper as [54]
A healthy gut microbiota promotes colonization resistance against C. difficile through metabolism of bile acids to both reduce primary bile acids, which promote C. difficile spore germination, and increase secondary bile acids, which inhibit C. difficile vegetative growth.
“Therefore, a healthy gut microbiota promotes colonization resistance against C. difficile through metabolism of bile acids to both reduce primary bile acids, which promote C. difficile spore germination, and increase secondary bile acids, which inhibit C. difficile vegetative growth.”
From Role of the gut microbiota in nutrient competition and protection against intestinal pathogen colonization (2023) · cites this paper as [54]
Cites
A human gut microbial gene catalogue established by metagenomic sequencing
MetaHIT Consortium, Qin, J., Li, R., Raes, J., Arumugam, M., Burgdorf, K. S., Manichanh, C., Nielsen, T., Pons, N., Levenez, F., et al. (2010) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature08821 · Cited by 11,624 · see citing works
Bile salt biotransformations by human intestinal bacteria
Ridlon, J. M., Kang, D.-J., & Hylemon, P. B. (2006) · Journal of Lipid Research · doi:10.1194/jlr.r500013-jlr200 · Cited by 2,829 · see citing works
Identification of a nuclear receptor for bile acids
Makishima, M., Okamoto, A. Y., Repa, J. J., Tu, H., Learned, R. M., Luk, A., Hull, M. V., Lustig, K. D., Mangelsdorf, D. J., & Shan, B. (1999) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.284.5418.1362 · Cited by 2,714 · see citing works
Bile Acids: Natural Ligands for an Orphan Nuclear Receptor
Parks, D. J., Blanchard, S. G., Bledsoe, R. K., Chandra, G., Consler, T. G., Kliewer, S. A., Stimmel, J. B., Willson, T. M., Zavacki, A. M., Moore, D. D., et al. (1999) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.284.5418.1365 · Cited by 2,274 · see citing works
Zar, F. A., Bakkanagari, S. R., Moorthi, K. M. L. S. T., & Davis, M. B. (2007) · Clinical Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1086/519265 · Cited by 1,247 · see citing works
Clostridium difficile Toxins: Mechanism of Action and Role in Disease
Voth, D. E., & Ballard, J. D. (2005) · Clinical Microbiology Reviews · doi:10.1128/cmr.18.2.247-263.2005 · Cited by 1,103 · see citing works
Health Care Costs and Mortality Associated with Nosocomial Diarrhea Due to Clostridium difficile
Kyne, L., Hamel, M. B., Polavaram, R., & Kelly, C. P. (2002) · Clinical Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1086/338260 · Cited by 902 · see citing works
The multidrug-resistant human pathogen Clostridium difficile has a highly mobile, mosaic genome
Sebaihia, M., Wren, B. W., Mullany, P. P., Fairweather, N. F., Minton, N. P., Stabler, R. A., Thomson, N. R., Roberts, A. P., Cerdeño-Tárraga, A. M., Wang, H., et al. (2006) · Nature Genetics · doi:10.1038/ng1830 · Cited by 877 · see citing works
Setlow, P. (2003) · Current Opinion in Microbiology · doi:10.1016/j.mib.2003.10.001 · Cited by 823 · see citing works
Toxin B is essential for virulence of Clostridium difficile
Lyras, D., O’Connor, J. R., Howarth, P. M., Sambol, S. P., Carter, G. P., Phumoonna, T., Poon, R., Adams, V., Vedantam, G., Johnson, S., et al. (2009) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature07822 · Cited by 745 · see citing works
Bile Salts and Glycine as Cogerminants for <i>Clostridium difficile</i> Spores
Sorg, J. A., & Sonenshein, A. L. (2008) · Journal of Bacteriology · doi:10.1128/jb.01765-07 · Cited by 711 · see citing works
Self-citationIncrease inClostridium difficile–related Mortality Rates, United States, 1999–2004
Redelings, M. D., Sorvillo, F. J., & Mascola, L. (2007) · Emerging infectious diseases · doi:10.3201/eid1309.061116 · Cited by 431 · see citing works
Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea in adults
Poutanen, S. M. (2004) · Canadian Medical Association Journal · doi:10.1503/cmaj.1031189 · Cited by 415 · see citing works
Role of bile acids in colorectal carcinogenesis
Nagengast, F. M., Grubben, M. J. A. L., & van Munster, I. P. (1995) · European Journal of Cancer · doi:10.1016/0959-8049(95)00216-6 · Cited by 352 · see citing works
Structural Basis for Bile Acid Binding and Activation of the Nuclear Receptor FXR
Mi, L.-Z., Devarakonda, S., Harp, J. M., Han, Q., Pellicciari, R., Willson, T. M., Khorasanizadeh, S., & Rastinejad, F. (2003) · Molecular Cell · doi:10.1016/s1097-2765(03)00112-6 · Cited by 315 · see citing works
O’Brien, J. A., Lahue, B. J., Jaime, J., & Davidson, D. M. (2007) · Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology · doi:10.1086/522676 · Cited by 315 · see citing works
Use of sodium taurocholate to enhance spore recovery on a medium selective for Clostridium difficile
Wilson, K. H., Kennedy, M. J., & Fekety, F. R. (1982) · Journal of Clinical Microbiology · doi:10.1128/jcm.15.3.443-446.1982 · Cited by 314 · see citing works
Role of competition for nutrients in suppression of Clostridium difficile by the colonic microflora
Wilson, K. H., & Perini, F. (1988) · Infection and Immunity · doi:10.1128/iai.56.10.2610-2614.1988 · Cited by 297 · see citing works
Economic healthcare costs of Clostridium difficile infection: a systematic review
Ghantoji, S. S., Sail, K., Lairson, D. R., DuPont, H. L., & Garey, K. W. (2010) · Journal of Hospital Infection · doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2009.10.016 · Cited by 289 · see citing works
Jump, R., Pultz, M. J., & Donskey, C. J. (2007) · Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy · doi:10.1128/aac.01443-06 · Cited by 240 · see citing works
Proteomic and Genomic Characterization of Highly Infectious Clostridium difficile 630 Spores
Lawley, T. D., Croucher, N. J., Yu, L., Clare, S., Sebaihia, M., Goulding, D., Pickard, D., Parkhill, J., Choudhary, J. S., & Gordon Dougan, B. (2009) · Journal of Bacteriology · doi:10.1128/jb.00597-09 · Cited by 239 · see citing works
THE GENETICS OF BACTERIAL SPORE GERMINATION
Moir, A., & Smith, D. A. (1990) · Annual Review of Microbiology · doi:10.1146/annurev.mi.44.100190.002531 · Cited by 222 · see citing works
Clostridium difficile: An important pathogen of food animals
Songer, J. G., & Anderson, M. A. (2005) · Anaerobe · doi:10.1016/j.anaerobe.2005.09.001 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Northfield, T. C., & McColl, I. (1973) · Gut · doi:10.1136/gut.14.7.513 · Cited by 207 · see citing works
Chenodeoxycholate Is an Inhibitor of <i>Clostridium difficile</i> Spore Germination
Sorg, J. A., & Sonenshein, A. L. (2009) · Journal of Bacteriology · doi:10.1128/jb.01260-08 · Cited by 199 · see citing works
Self-citationMetabolism of Bile Salts in Mice Influences Spore Germination in Clostridium difficile
Giel, J. L., Sorg, J. A., Sonenshein, A. L., & Zhu, J. (2010) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008740 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Self-citationHill, M. J. (2006) · Cancer · doi:10.1002/1097-0142(197512)36:6 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Wilson, K. H. (1983) · Journal of Clinical Microbiology · doi:10.1128/jcm.18.4.1017-1019.1983 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
Dubberke, E. R., Reske, K. A., Olsen, M. A. A., McDonald, L. C., & Fraser, V. J. (2008) · Clinical Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1086/526530 · Cited by 177 · see citing works
Intestinal bile acid physiology and pathophysiology
Martínez‐Augustin, O., & de Medina, F. S. (2008) · World Journal of Gastroenterology · doi:10.3748/wjg.14.5630 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Update on the changing epidemiology of Clostridium difficile-associated disease
McFarland, L. V. (2008) · Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology · doi:10.1038/ncpgasthep1029 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
A review of mortality due to Clostridium difficile infection
Karas, J. A., Enoch, D., & Aliyu, S. H. (2010) · Journal of Infection · doi:10.1016/j.jinf.2010.03.025 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
Colonic absorption of unconjugated bile acids
Mekhjian, H. S., Phillips, S. F., & Hofmann, A. F. (1979) · Digestive Diseases and Sciences · doi:10.1007/bf01489324 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Clostridium difficile: changing epidemiology and new treatment options
Kuijper, E. J., van Dissel, J. T., & Wilcox, M. H. (2007) · Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1097/qco.0b013e32818be71d · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Bile acid induction specificity of 7α-dehydroxylase activity in an intestinal Eubacterium species
A, B., Lipsky, W. R. L., Fricke, R. J., & Hylemon, P. B. (1980) · Steroids · doi:10.1016/0039-128x(80)90115-4 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Side chain conjugation prevents bacterial 7-dehydroxylation of bile acids.
Batta, A. K., Salen, G., Arora, R., Shefer, S., Batta, M., & Person, A. (1990) · Journal of Biological Chemistry · doi:10.1016/s0021-9258(19)38535-7 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Implantation of bacteria from the digestive tract of man and various animals into gnotobiotic mice
Raibaud, P., Ducluzeau, R., Dubos, F., et al. (1980) · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/33.11.2440 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Mallonee, D. H., & Hylemon, P. B. (1996) · Journal of Bacteriology · doi:10.1128/jb.178.24.7053-7058.1996 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Energetics by NMR: Site-specific binding in a positively cooperative system
Tochtrop, G. P., Richter, K., Tang, C., et al. (2002) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.012379199 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Small Bowel Tonometry : Assessment of Small Gut Mucosal Oxygen Tension in Dog and Man
Dawson, A. M., Trenchard, D. W., & Guz, A. (1965) · Nature · doi:10.1038/206943b0 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Mallonee, D. H., Adams, J. L., & Hylemon, P. B. (1992) · Journal of Bacteriology · doi:10.1128/jb.174.7.2065-2071.1992 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Kinetic Evidence for the Presence of Putative Germination Receptors in C lostridium difficile Spores
Ramírez, N. R., Liggins, M. C., & Abel‐Santos, E. (2010) · Journal of Bacteriology · doi:10.1128/jb.00488-10 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Identification of an in Vivo Inhibitor of Bacillus anthracis Spore Germination
Akoachere, M., Squires, R. C., Nour, A. M., et al. (2007) · Journal of Biological Chemistry · doi:10.1074/jbc.m611432200 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
O’Brien, J. A., Lahue, B. J., Jaime, J., & Davidson, D. M. (2007) · Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology · doi:10.1017/s0195941700026072 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Isolation of Environmental Clostridium Difficile from a Veterinary Teaching Hospital
Weese, J. S., Staempfli, H. R., & Prescott, J. F. (2000) · Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation · doi:10.1177/104063870001200510 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Dawson, J. A., Mallonee, D. H., Björkhem, I., & Hylemon, P. B. (1996) · Journal of Lipid Research · doi:10.1016/s0022-2275(20)39155-0 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
I. Nuclear receptors and bile acid homeostasis
Goodwin, B. J., & Kliewer, S. A. (2002) · American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology · doi:10.1152/ajpgi.00044.2002 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Requirements for Germination ofClostridium sordelliiSporesIn Vitro
Ramírez, N. R., & Abel‐Santos, E. (2009) · Journal of Bacteriology · doi:10.1128/jb.01226-09 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Samuel, P., Holtzman, C. M., Meilman, E., et al. (1973) · Circulation Research · doi:10.1161/01.res.33.4.393 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Capaldi, S., Saccomani, G., Fessas, D., et al. (2008) · Journal of Molecular Biology · doi:10.1016/j.jmb.2008.10.007 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Bliss, D. Z., Johnson, S., Clabots, C., Savik, K., & Gerding, D. N. (1997) · Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease · doi:10.1016/s0732-8893(97)00113-2 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Recovery of spores of Clostridium difficile altered by heat or alkali
Kamiya, S., Yamakawa, K., Ogura, H., & Nakamura, S. (1989) · Journal of Medical Microbiology · doi:10.1099/00222615-28-3-217 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Nobilis, M., Pour, M., Kuneš, J., Kopecký, J., Kvetina, J., Svoboda, Z., Sládková, K., & Vortel, J. (2001) · Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis · doi:10.1016/s0731-7085(00)00563-x · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Guariento, M., Raimondo, D., Assfalg, M., Zanzoni, S., Pesente, P., Ragona, L., Tramontano, A. L., & Molinari, H. (2007) · Proteins Structure Function and Bioinformatics · doi:10.1002/prot.21518 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Molecular cloning of bile acid 7-dehydroxylase from Eubacterium sp. strain VPI 12708
Coleman, J. P., White, W. B., & Hylemon, P. B. (1987) · Journal of Bacteriology · doi:10.1128/jb.169.4.1516-1521.1987 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Intestinal bile acid physiology and pathophysiology
Olga, O., Martinez-Augustin, Fermin, et al. (2008) · Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Sunyatseni · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The microbial pharmacists within us: a metagenomic view of xenobiotic metabolism
Spanogiannopoulos, P., Bess, E. N., Carmody, R. N., & Turnbaugh, P. J. (2016) · Nature Reviews Microbiology · doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.17 · Cited by 717 · see citing works
Intestinal transport and metabolism of bile acids
Dawson, P. A., & Karpen, S. J. (2015) · Journal of Lipid Research · doi:10.1194/jlr.r054114 · Cited by 598 · see citing works
Gut Microbiota and Colonization Resistance against Bacterial Enteric Infection
Ducarmon, Q. R., Zwittink, R. D., Hornung, B. V. H., van Schaik, W., Young, V. B., & Kuijper, E. J. (2019) · Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews · doi:10.1128/mmbr.00007-19 · Cited by 566 · see citing works
Interactions between gut bacteria and bile in health and disease
Long, S. L., Gahan, C. G. M., & Joyce, S. A. (2017) · Molecular Aspects of Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.mam.2017.06.002 · Cited by 495 · see citing works
Theriot, C. M., Bowman, A. A., & Young, V. B. (2016) · mSphere · doi:10.1128/msphere.00045-15 · Cited by 481 · see citing works
Interactions between Bacteria and Bile Salts in the Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Tracts
Urdaneta, V., & Casadesús, J. (2017) · Frontiers in Medicine · doi:10.3389/fmed.2017.00163 · Cited by 449 · see citing works
Weingarden, A. R., Chen, C., Bobr, A., Yao, D., Lu, Y., Nelson, V. M., Sadowsky, M. J., & Khoruts, A. (2014) · American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology · doi:10.1152/ajpgi.00282.2013 · Cited by 423 · see citing works
Relationship between the gut microbiome and brain function
Mohajeri, M. H., La Fata, G., Steinert, R. E., & Weber, P. (2018) · Nutrition Reviews · doi:10.1093/nutrit/nuy009 · Cited by 376 · see citing works
Mining the microbiota for microbial and metabolite-based immunotherapies
Skelly, A. N., Sato, Y., Kearney, S., & Honda, K. (2019) · Nature Reviews Immunology · doi:10.1038/s41577-019-0144-5 · Cited by 306 · see citing works
Clostridium difficile and the microbiota
Seekatz, A. M., & Young, V. B. (2014) · Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1172/jci72336 · Cited by 255 · see citing works
Mullish, B. H., McDonald, J. A. K., Pechlivanis, A., Allegretti, J. R., Kao, D., Barker, G. F., Kapila, D., Petrof, E. O., Joyce, S. A., Gahan, C. G. M., et al. (2019) · Gut · doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2018-317842 · Cited by 268 · see citing works
Thanissery, R., Winston, J. A., & Theriot, C. M. (2017) · Anaerobe · doi:10.1016/j.anaerobe.2017.03.004 · Cited by 242 · see citing works
Seto, C. T., Jeraldo, P., Orenstein, R., Chia, N., & DiBaise, J. K. (2014) · Microbiome · doi:10.1186/2049-2618-2-42 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Faecal microbiota transplantation for Clostridioides difficile: mechanisms and pharmacology
Khoruts, A., Staley, C., & Sadowsky, M. J. (2021) · Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology · doi:10.1038/s41575-020-0350-4 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
How bile acids and the microbiota interact to shape host immunity
Lee, M. H., Nuccio, S.-P., Mohanty, I., Hagey, L. R., Dorrestein, P. C., Chu, H., & Raffatellu, M. (2024) · Nature Reviews Immunology · doi:10.1038/s41577-024-01057-x · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Horrocks, V., King, O. G., Yip, A. Y. G., Marques, I. M., & McDonald, J. A. K. (2023) · Microbiology · doi:10.1099/mic.0.001377 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
The role of gut microbiota in Clostridium difficile infection
Samarkos, M., Mastrogianni, E., & Kampouropoulou, O. (2018) · European Journal of Internal Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.ejim.2018.02.006 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Kearney, S. M., Gibbons, S. M., Poyet, M., Gurry, T., Bullock, K., Allegretti, J. R., Clish, C. B., & Alm, E. J. (2018) · The ISME Journal · doi:10.1038/s41396-018-0192-z · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Pathogenesis of Clostridium difficile Infection and Its Potential Role in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Monaghan, T. M., Cockayne, A., & Mahida, Y. R. (2015) · Inflammatory Bowel Diseases · doi:10.1097/mib.0000000000000461 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Fecal microbiota transplantation for Clostridium difficile infection: benefits and barriers
Lo Vecchio, A., & Cohen, M. B. (2014) · Current Opinion in Gastroenterology · doi:10.1097/mog.0000000000000023 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sorg, J. A., & Sonenshein, A. L.
- Affiliations
- Tufts University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sonenshein, Abraham L.
- Venue
- Journal of Bacteriology
- Publisher
- American Society for Microbiology
- Published
- 2010-10
- Volume
- 192
- Issue
- 19
- Pages
- 4983-4990
- ISSN
- 0021-9193 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-5530
- PMC
- PMC2944524
- OpenAlex
- W2097297514
- Cited by
- 332
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 35 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 5.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Bacteriology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (n01ai30050-20-0-3, N01-AI-30050)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (K12GM074869)
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (N01 AI030050)
- 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
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Clinical Biochemistry › Bacterial Identification and Susceptibility Testing
- Keywords
- Clostridium difficile, spore germination, chenodeoxycholic acid, bile acids, taurocholate, competitive inhibition, Michaelis-Menten kinetics, 7α-dehydroxylation, Clostridium scindens, colonic microbiota, glycine
- MeSH terms
- Bile Acids and Salts, Chenodeoxycholic Acid, Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid, Spores, Bacterial, Taurocholic Acid, Clostridioides difficile
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review