Effect of Antibiotic Therapy on Human Fecal Microbiota and the Relation to the Development of Clostridium difficile

Abstract

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a complex ecosystem. Recent studies have shown that the human fecal microbiota is composed of a consortium of microorganism. It is known that antibiotic treatment alters the microbiota, facilitating the proliferation of opportunists that may occupy ecological niches previously unavailable to them. It is therefore important to characterize resident microbiota to evaluate its latent ability to permit the development of pathogens such as Clostridium difficile. Using samples from 260 subjects enrolled in a previously published clinical study on antibiotic-associated diarrhea, we investigated the possible relationship between the fecal dominant resident microbiota and the subsequent development of C. difficile.We used molecular profiling of bacterial 16S rDNA coupled with PLS regression analysis. The non exhaustive data of the microbiota we found should be taken as the first step to assess the hypothesis of permissive microbiota. The PLS model was used successfully to predict C. difficile development. We found that important criteria in terms of main bacteria could be markedly considered as predisposing factors for C. difficile development. Yet the resident microbiota in case of Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea (AAD) has still to be analyzed. Further more, these findings suggest that strategies reinforcing the ability of the fecal microbiota to resist to modifications would be of clinical relevance.2

Reproducible Community Dynamics of the Gastrointestinal Microbiota following Antibiotic Perturbation

“…A significant body of research has demonstrated that disturbances in this balance can disrupt intestinal homeostasis. Multiple disease states may arise, at least in part, in response to altered indigenous microbial communities in the gut (10,47,53,55). Conversely, research on probiotics indicates that the normal balance between the indigenous microbiota and the host can be protected or restored through the administration of beneficial microbes (6,45,59).…”

Clostridium difficile Colonization in Early Infancy Is Accompanied by Changes in Intestinal Microbiota Composition

“…Indeed, recent work highlighted that microbiota composition, assessed before antibiotic treatment, differed between individuals who developed CDI as a consequence and those who did not (7). Chang et al showed a decreased fecal microbiota diversity in adults with recurrent CDI (4).…”

Reciprocity in Microbiome and Immune System Interactions and its Implications in Disease and Health

“…An entropathogenic bacterium Salmonella enterica inhibits the growth of microbiota in the gut and subsequently predisposes mice to colitis development [44]. Alteration of the gut microbiome by antibiotics in humnas can lead to the development of pathogenic Clostridium difficile infection [45]. In germ free mice, invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells in lamina propria contribute to inflammatory bowel disease and asthma.…”