One Sentence Summary: High dietary fat promoted mortality in a mouse model of antibiotic-17 induced C. difficile infection and low dietary fiber caused higher microbiome disturbance upon 18 broad-spectum antibiotic exposure, suggesting that diets low in fat and high in fiber may protect 19 against C. difficile pathogenesis.Abstract: Clostridoides difficile infection (CDI) is a leading cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea 22 and there has been a steady increase in the number of new infections, emphasizing the 23 importance of novel prevention strategies. Use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and disruption of 24 the intestinal microbiome is one of the most important risk factors of CDI. We used a murine 25 model of antibiotic-induced CDI to investigate the relative contributions of high dietary fat and 26 low dietary fiber on disease pathogenesis. We found that high fat, but not low fiber resulted in 27 increased mortality from CDI (HR 4.95) and increased levels of C. difficile toxin production 28 compared to a regular low-fat/high-fiber mouse diet even though we did not observe a significant 29 change in C. difficile carriage. The high-fat diet also increased levels of primary bile acids 30 known to be germination factors for C. difficile spores. Mice fed low-fat/low-fiber diets did not 31 show increased CDI pathogenesis, but did have a larger antibiotic-induced gut microbiome 32 disturbance compared to mice fed a high-fiber diet, characterized by a greater decrease in alpha 33 diversity. This microbiome disturbance was associated with a loss of secondary bile acids and 34 short chain fatty acids, which are both microbial metabolic products previously shown to protect 35 against CDI. These data suggest that a low-fiber diet contributes to antibiotic-induced dysbiosis, 36 while a high-fat diet promotes CDI pathogenesis. These findings indicate that dietary 37 interventions that increase fiber and decrease fat may be an effective prevention strategy for 38 individuals at high risk of CDI. 39 40 41Clostridoides difficile infection (CDI) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality, 42 with 500,000 cases every year causing 30,000 deaths per year in the US alone (1). Alarmingly, 43 there has been a steady increase in the number of new infections in spite of prevention efforts in 44 hospitals that have focused largely on increased sanitation and antibiotic stewardship (2). These 45 prevention approaches treat CDI as a traditional communicable infection. However, recent data 46 suggests that CDI is often caused by the activation of strains that were already carried in the gut 47 prior to hospital admission and prior to the onset of symptoms rather than by acquisition of a 48 hospital-resident strain (3). Thus, determining strategies to reduce C. difficile carriage and 49 attenuate CDI severity is critical.
50A complex gut microbiome has been shown to be protective against CDI (4). Broad 51 spectrum antibiotic usage, such as clindamycin, beta-lactams, and fluoroquinolones (5, 6) 52 increase risk of CDI as d...