Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jinglue Song, Xia Shen, Zhenyu Huang, Yun Liu, Long Cui, Xuewei Cui, Chen-Ying Liu
Summary: Toxins A and B of Clostridium difficile disrupt the Hippo pathway, leading to sequestration and inactivation of YAP and TAZ in colonic epithelial cells. Overexpression of YAP restores cell function and may serve as a potential therapeutic strategy for treating CDI.
JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMICAL AND MOLECULAR TOXICOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Salvador Lopez-Cardenas, Eva Torres-Martos, Juan Mora-Delgado, Juan Manuel Sanchez-Calvo, Marta Santos-Pena, Angel Zapata Lopez, Maria Dolores Lopez-Prieto, Salvador Perez-Cortes, Juan Carlos Alados
Summary: The study revealed that patients with detected presence of TcdB and CDT in feces exhibited greater disease severity and higher recurrence rates compared to those without detection. Simultaneous detection of both markers had a stronger impact on prognosis in cases of CDI.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Giuseppe Esposito, Chiara Corpetti, Marcella Pesce, Luisa Seguella, Giuseppe Annunziata, Alessandro Del Re, Martina Vincenzi, Roberta Lattanzi, Jie Lu, Walter Sanseverino, Giovanni Sarnelli
Summary: The newly designed PEA-producing probiotic showed therapeutic potential in inhibiting colonic inflammation and restoring tight junction protein expression in a mouse model of CDI.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Srijita Basak, Debashrito Deb, Utkarsh Narsaria, Tamalika Kar, Filippo Castiglione, Indraneel Sanyal, Pratap D. Bade, Anurag P. Srivastava
Summary: Clostridium difficile infection is a major health-associated infection with high incidence and mortality rates. A chimeric vaccine candidate was designed using immunoinformatics, which showed stability and reliability in silico and molecular dynamics simulations. Docking studies demonstrated stable interactions with immune receptors, and in silico modeling indicated competent expression in E. coli system for potential immune response.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maria B. Nowakowska, Katja Selby, Adina Przykopanski, Maren Krueger, Nadja Krez, Brigitte G. Dorner, Martin B. Dorner, Rongsheng Jin, Nigel P. Minton, Andreas Rummel, Miia Lindstrom
Summary: Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, are highly toxic substances that can cause botulism. This research developed a safe alternative strain of C. botulinum that produces inactive BoNT, which can be used for public health risk management, food preservation strategies, understanding toxinogenesis, and structural studies.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Julia L. Drewes, Jie Chen, Nicholas O. Markham, Reece J. Knippel, Jada C. Domingue, Ada J. Tam, June L. Chan, Lana Kim, Madison McMann, Courtney Stevens, Christine M. Dejea, Sarah Tomkovich, John Michel, James R. White, Fuad Mohammad, Victoria L. Campodonico, Cody N. Heiser, Xinqun Wu, Shaoguang Wu, Hua Ding, Patricia Simner, Karen Carroll, Martha J. Shrubsole, Robert A. Anders, Seth T. Walk, Christian Jobin, Fengyi Wan, Robert J. Coffey, Franck Housseau, Ken S. Lau, Cynthia L. Sears
Summary: This study reveals the role of toxigenic Clostridioides difficile in promoting colorectal cancer, suggesting that chronic colonization with this pathogenic bacteria may drive tumor development through the induction of Wnt signaling, reactive oxygen species, and protumorigenic mucosal immune responses.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Miad Elahi, Haruyuki Nakayama-Imaohji, Masahito Hashimoto, Ayano Tada, Hisashi Yamasaki, Tamiko Nagao, Tomomi Kuwahara
Summary: The gut symbiont Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (BT) suppresses Clostridium difficile (CD) toxin production by inhibiting polysaccharide metabolism pathways. Polysaccharide fractions derived from BT can suppress CD toxin production, with cell wall-associated glycans playing a key role in this inhibitory effect.
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Peng An Khun, Thomas V. Riley
Summary: This review provides an overview of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in southeast Asia, including its prevalence, detection methods, antimicrobial susceptibility profiles, and the potential significance of a One Health approach. CDI is a common cause of hospital-acquired gastroenteritis worldwide, with higher rates observed in high-income countries. Lack of knowledge and awareness about CDI, along with antimicrobial abuse and inadequate education on appropriate usage, contribute to its evolution. Underreporting of CDI rates and misuse of antimicrobial agents pose a significant threat in regions like Indochina, while C. difficile RT 017 strain is endemic in southeast Asia.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Mahmoud Fayez, Waleed R. El-Ghareeb, Ahmed Elmoslemany, Saleem J. Alsunaini, Mohamed Alkafafy, Othman M. Alzahrani, Samy F. Mahmoud, Ibrahim Elsohaby
Summary: The study investigated the presence of Clostridium perfringens and Clostridioides difficile in camel minced meat samples collected from small butcher shops and supermarkets in Al-Ahsa Governorate, Saudi Arabia. It was found that most isolates exhibited resistance to at least one antimicrobial, with some showing multidrug resistance. This highlights the importance of enforcing food safety standards and conducting regular inspections in abattoirs, small butcher shops, and supermarkets.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Andrew M. Skinner, S. Tyler Phillips, Michelle M. Merrigan, Kevin J. O'Leary, Susan P. Sambol, Farida Siddiqui, Lance R. Peterson, Dale N. Gerding, Stuart Johnson
Summary: Most pathogenic strains of C. difficile possess two large molecular weight single unit toxins that disrupt the actin cytoskeleton of intestinal epithelial cells, leading to diarrhea. While TcdB alone can cause disease, TcdA-/TcdB+ mutant strains have been shown to be responsible for C. difficile infection, which are typically mild in nature.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Hung Chan, Qing Li, Xiansong Wang, Wing Yingzhi Liu, Wei Hu, Judeng Zeng, Chuan Xie, Thomas Ngai Yeung Kwong, Idy Hiu Ting Ho, Xiaodong Liu, Huarong Chen, Jun Yu, Ho Ko, Raphael Chiu Yeung Chan, Margaret Ip, Tony Gin, Alfred Sze Lok Cheng, Lin Zhang, Matthew Tak Vai Chan, Sunny Hei Wong, William Ka Kei Wu
Summary: Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a common cause of nosocomial diarrhea. TcdB impairs lysosomal function in macrophages, leading to inflammation. Vitamin D-3 and carbamazepine protect against CDI by restoring lysosomal function and the expression of the transcription factor MITF in macrophages.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Masahiro Nagahama, Keiko Kobayashi, Sadayuki Ochi, Masaya Takehara
Summary: Clostridium botulinum C2 toxin requires lysosomal enzyme cathepsin B (CTSB) for effective cellular entry, with cysteine protease and aspartyl protease having different effects on cell rounding and extracellular ASMase activity induced by C2 toxin.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Kali M. Pruss, Fatima Enam, Eric Battaglioli, Mary DeFeo, Oscar R. Diaz, Steven K. Higginbottom, Curt R. Fischer, Andrew J. Hryckowian, William Van Treuren, Dylan Dodd, Purna Kashyap, Justin L. Sonnenburg
Summary: The pathogen Clostridioides difficile (Cd) can colonize the gut even without causing any symptoms of the disease. The prevalence of asymptomatic colonization by toxigenic Cd in healthy populations is high. In this study, researchers analyzed the gut microbiome of mice resistant to Cd infection and inflammation and found increased expression of arginine and ornithine metabolic pathways. They also identified a specific operon consistently upregulated in non-toxigenic Cd strains. Through metabolomics and genetic analysis, the researchers demonstrated that both diet- and host-derived sources of ornithine provide a competitive advantage to Cd, suggesting a mechanism for Cd persistence in a non-inflammatory, healthy gut.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Waleed A. Hassanain, Julia Spoors, Christopher L. Johnson, Karen Faulds, Neil Keegan, Duncan Graham
Summary: The study introduces a novel testing platform for the rapid and simultaneous detection of two specific biomarkers of Clostridium difficile infection, providing a rapid, selective, sensitive, and cost-effective clinical evaluation method for CDI.
Article
Immunology
Ziphezinhle Mbhele, Lungile Thwala, Thandeka Khoza, Faranani Ramagoma
Summary: The study demonstrates that substituting aluminium hydroxide nanoparticles for alhydrogel in the botulism bivalent vaccine can enhance the immune response and antibody efficacy.