scholarly journals Application of Microbiome Management in Therapy for Clostridioides difficile Infections: From Fecal Microbiota Transplantation to Probiotics to Microbiota-Preserving Antimicrobial Agents

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 649
Author(s):  
Chun-Wei Chiu ◽  
Pei-Jane Tsai ◽  
Ching-Chi Lee ◽  
Wen-Chien Ko ◽  
Yuan-Pin Hung

Oral vancomycin and metronidazole, though they are the therapeutic choice for Clostridioides difficile infections (CDIs), also markedly disturb microbiota, leading to a prolonged loss of colonization resistance to C. difficile after therapy; as a result, their use is associated with a high treatment failure rate and high recurrent rate. An alternative for CDIs therapy contains the delivery of beneficial (probiotic) microorganisms into the intestinal tract to restore the microbial balance. Recently, mixture regimens containing Lactobacillus species, Saccharomyces boulardii, or Clostridium butyricum have been extensively studied for the prophylaxis of CDIs. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), the transfer of (processed) fecal material from healthy donors to patients for treating CDIs, combined with vancomycin was recommended as the primary therapy for multiple recurrent CDIs (rCDIs). Either probiotics or FMT have been utilized extensively in preventing or treating CDIs, aiming at less disturbance in the microbiota to prevent rCDIs after therapy cessation. Otherwise, many newly developed therapeutic agents have been developed and aim to preserve microbiota during CDI treatment to prevent disease recurrence and might be useful in clinical patients with rCDIs in the future.

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0251590
Author(s):  
Sandeep Verma ◽  
Sudhir K. Dutta ◽  
Elad Firnberg ◽  
Laila Phillips ◽  
Rakesh Vinayek ◽  
...  

Background Recurrent Clostridioides diffícile infection (RCDI) is associated with major bacterial dysbiosis and colitis. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a highly effective therapeutic modality for RCDI. While several studies have identified bacterial species associated with resolution of symptoms in patients, characterization of the fecal microbiome at the bacterial strain level in RCDI patients before and after FMT and healthy donors, has been lacking. The aim of this study was to examine the ability of bacterial strains from healthy donors to engraft in the gastrointestinal tract of patients with RCDI following FMT. Methods Fecal samples were collected from 22 patients with RCDI before and after FMT and their corresponding healthy donors. Total DNA was extracted from each sample and analyzed by shotgun metagenomic sequencing. The Cosmos-ID analysis platform was used for taxonomic assignment of sequences and calculation of the relative abundance (RA) of bacterial species and strains. From these data, the total number of bacterial strains (BSI), Shannon diversity index, dysbiosis index (DI), and bacterial engraftment factor, were calculated for each strain. Findings A marked reduction (p<0·0001) in the RA of total and specific bacterial strains, especially from phylum Firmicutes, was observed in RCDI patients prior to FMT. This change was associated with an increase in the DI (p<0·0001) and in pathobiont bacterial strains from phylum Proteobacteria, such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Klebsiella pneumoniae UCI 34. BSI was significantly lower in this group of patients as compared to healthy donors and correlated with the Shannon Index. (p<0·0001). Identification and engraftment of bacterial strains from healthy donors revealed a greater diversity and higher relative abundance of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacterial strains, including Lachnospiraceae bacterium 5_1_63FAA_u_t, Dorea formicigenerans ATCC 27755, Anaerostipes hadrusand others, in RCDI patients after FMT. Interpretation These observations identify a group of SCFA-producing bacterial strains from healthy donors that engraft well in patients with RCDI following FMT and are associated with complete resolution of clinical symptoms and bacterial dysbiosis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (10) ◽  
pp. 2630-2636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth M Terveer ◽  
Tom van Gool ◽  
Rogier E Ooijevaar ◽  
Ingrid M J G Sanders ◽  
Eline Boeije-Koppenol ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Patients with multiple recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections (rCDI) are treated with fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), using feces provided by healthy donors. Blastocystis colonization of donors is considered an exclusion criterion, whereas its pathogenicity is still under debate. Methods The introduction of molecular screening for Blastocystis sp. at our stool bank identified 2 donors with prior negative microscopies but positive polymerase chain reactions (PCRs). Potential transmission of Blastocystis sp. to patients was assessed on 16 fecal patient samples, pre- and post-FMT, by PCR and subtype (ST) analyses. In addition, clinical outcomes for the treatment of rCDI (n = 31), as well as the development of gastrointestinal symptoms, were assessed. Results There was 1 donor who carried Blastocystis ST1, and the other contained ST3. All patients tested negative for Blastocystis prior to FMT. With a median diagnosis at 20.5 days after FMT, 8 of 16 (50%) patients developed intestinal colonization with Blastocystis, with identical ST sequences as their respective donors. Blastocystis-containing fecal suspensions were used to treat 31 rCDI patients, with an FMT success rate of 84%. This success rate was not statistically different from patients transferred with Blastocystis sp.–negative donor feces (93%, 76/82). Patients transferred with Blastocystis sp.–positive donor feces did not report any significant differences in bowel complaints in the first week, after 3 weeks, or in the months following FMT. Conclusions We demonstrated the first transmission of Blastocystis ST1 and ST3 from donors to patients by FMT. This did not result in gastrointestinal symptomatology or have any significant effect on rCDI treatment outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (01) ◽  
pp. 016-020
Author(s):  
Juliana Peloso Signorette ◽  
Rômulo Tadeu Dias de Oliveira ◽  
José Maria Montiel ◽  
Priscila Larcher Longo

Abstract Objective This study aimed to perform a comprehensive review of clinical trials using fecal microbiota transplantation in cases of Clostridioides difficile infection. Methods This manuscript reviews clinical studies published from 2003 to 2020 at the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO Brazil), Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS) and US National Library of Medicine (MedLine/PubMed) databases using the descriptors antibiotic/antimicrobial, Clostridium difficile/Clostridioides difficile, intestinal microbiota/intestinal microbiome and fecal transplantation. Results Interventions on microbiota include the use of probiotics, prebiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation as therapeutic methods. Results show that fecal microbiota transplantation is an excellent alternative for the treatment of recurrent C. difficile infections.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 389
Author(s):  
Eleftheria Kampouri ◽  
Antony Croxatto ◽  
Guy Prod’hom ◽  
Benoit Guery

Clostridioides difficile is an increasingly common pathogen both within and outside the hospital and is responsible for a large clinical spectrum from asymptomatic carriage to complicated infection associated with a high mortality. While diagnostic methods have considerably progressed over the years, the optimal diagnostic algorithm is still debated and there is no single diagnostic test that can be used as a standalone test. More importantly, the heterogeneity in diagnostic practices between centers along with the lack of robust surveillance systems in all countries and an important degree of underdiagnosis due to lack of clinical suspicion in the community, hinder a more accurate evaluation of the burden of disease. Our improved understanding of the physiopathology of CDI has allowed some significant progress in the treatment of CDI, including a broader use of fidaxomicine, the use of fecal microbiota transplantation for multiples recurrences and newer approaches including antibodies, vaccines and new molecules, already developed or in the pipeline. However, the management of CDI recurrences and severe infections remain challenging and the main question remains: how to best target these often expensive treatments to the right population. In this review we discuss current diagnostic approaches, treatment and potential prevention strategies, with a special focus on recent advances in the field as well as areas of uncertainty and unmet needs and how to address them.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning-Jiun Jan ◽  
Noah Oakland ◽  
Pankaj Kumar ◽  
Girija Ramakrishnan ◽  
Brian W. Behm ◽  
...  

Background: Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is the most common hospital-acquired infection in the United States. Antibiotic-induced dysbiosis is the primary cause of susceptibility and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has emerged as an effective therapy for recurrence. We previously demonstrated in the mouse model of CDI that antibiotic-induced dysbiosis reduced colonic expression of IL-25, and that FMT protected in part by restoring gut commensal bacteria-mediated IL-25 signaling. Here we conducted a prospective clinical trial to test the impact of FMT on immunity, specifically testing in humans if FMT induced IL-25 expression in the colon. Methods: Subjects received colonic biopsies and blood sampling at the time of FMT and 60-days later. Colon biopsies were assayed for IL-25 by immunoassay, for mRNA by RNAseq, and for bacterial content by 16 S rDNA sequencing. High dimensional flow cytometry was also conducted on peripheral blood mononuclear cells pre- and post-FMT. Results: All 10 subjects who received FMT had no CDI recurrences over a 2 year follow-up post FMT. FMT increased alpha diversity of the colonic microbiota and was associated with several immunologic changes. The cytokine IL-25 was increased in colonic tissue. In addition, increased expression of homeostatic genes and repression of inflammatory genes was observed in colonic mRNA transcripts. Finally, circulating Th17 cells were decreased post-FMT. Conclusion: The increase in the cytokine IL-25 accompanied by decreased inflammation is consistent with FMT acting in part to protect from recurrent CDI via restoration of commensal activation of type 2 immunity.


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