Gut Microbiota and Clostridium difficile: What We Know and the New Frontiers

Abstract

Our digestive system, particularly our intestines, harbors a vast amount of microorganisms, whose genetic makeup is referred to as the microbiome. Clostridium difficile is a spore-forming Gram-positive bacterium, which can cause an infection whose symptoms range from asymptomatic colonization to fearsome complications such as the onset of toxic megacolon. The relationship between gut microbiota and Clostridium difficile infection has been studied from different perspectives. One of the proposed strategies is to be able to specifically identify which types of microbiota alterations are most at risk for the onset of CDI. In this article, we understood once again how crucial the role of the human microbiota is in health and especially how crucial it becomes, in the case of its alteration, for the individual’s disease. Clostridium difficile infection is an emblematic example of how a normal and physiological composition of the human microbiome can play a very important role in immune defense against such a fearsome disease.

The Impact of Smoking on Microbiota: A Narrative Review

“…Despite the fact that this evidence has been known for a long time, the number of smokers worldwide remains extremely high, thus, leading us to think that this issue will not be solved soon [ 3 ]. Recently, besides “classic” risk factors such as smoke, a new, interesting player in human health and disease is gaining the attention of researchers: the microbiota [ 4 ]. The term microbiota describes the microbial populations living in the human body.…”

“…Among these bacteria, the main phyla are Firmicutes , Proteobacteria , and Bacteroidetes [ 5 ]. The relationship between the microbiota and its host is as complex as it is fascinating: it is established from the earliest moments of life, then influenced over the years by multiple environmental factors, such as diet, physical activity, genetics, chemical, and physical agents [ 4 ]. In health conditions, most of the bacteria of the microbiota are commensals: this condition is referred to as “eubiosis”.…”

“…The imbalance in the composition of the normal microbiota, under the effect of environmental factors, is defined as “dysbiosis”. Dysbiosis has an important impact on the immune system function and, consequently, affects the susceptibility and the clinical course of many diseases [ 4 , 5 , 7 ]. In the first place, the study of the role of the microbiota has involved those organs that were obviously not sterile, first of all, the gut.…”

“…Among these illnesses, we can enumerate cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and myopericarditis, respiratory diseases such as asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), neurological diseases such as stroke, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease, gastrointestinal diseases such as IBDs (inflammatory bowel diseases), autoimmune illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis, and also mental issues such as depression, dementia, and autism [ 4 , 5 , 6 ].…”

Gut Microbiota, LADA, and Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: An Evolving Relationship

“…The use of fecal microbiota transplantation has now become a viable therapeutic option for clostridium difficile infection (CDI), a dreaded condition that is, at its root, a dysbiosis of the gut microbiota [ 73 , 74 ].…”