<p>Recent advances in the treatment of <em>C. difficile</em> using biotherapeutic agents</p>

Abstract

Clostridium difficile ( C. difficile ) is rapidly becoming one of the most prevalent health care–associated bacterial infections in the developed world. The emergence of new, more virulent strains has led to greater morbidity and resistance to standard therapies. The bacterium is readily transmitted between people where it can asymptomatically colonize the gut environment, and clinical manifestations ranging from frequent watery diarrhea to toxic megacolon can arise depending on the age of the individual or their state of gut dysbiosis. Several inexpensive approaches are shown to be effective against virulent C. difficile in research settings such as probiotics, fecal microbiota transfer and immunotherapies. This review aims to highlight the current advantages and limitations of the aforementioned approaches with an emphasis on recent studies.

Centralin vivomechanisms by whichC. difficile’sproline reductase drives efficient metabolism, growth, and toxin production

“…Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is the most common healthcare-associated infection [4] and causes substantial mortality and morbidity with an estimated 500,000 cases per year and a total CDI-attributable expense of over $5 billion in the United States [5,6]. Recurrent CDI often follows antibiotic exposure and leads to alternative treatments such as, fecal microbiota transplantations and biotherapeutic agents.…”

Refining the Galleria mellonella Model by Using Stress Marker Genes to Assess Clostridioides difficile Infection and Recuperation during Phage Therapy

“…Generally, antibiotics kill other commensal bacteria in the gut leading to dysbiosis, which allows C. difficile to thrive, colonise and cause disease. Although new antibiotics and treatments such as fecal transplant are being developed, novel anti-infectives with target specificity and minimal deleterious impact on human gut microbial niche and immune system would be most appropriate to treat CDI [17,18].…”