Researchers examined mice colonized with C. difficile. They found that excess dietary zinc severely exacerbated C. difficile–associated disease by increasing toxin activity and changing the host immune response.
Additionally, the zinc-binding protein, S100 protein calprotectin, has antimicrobial effects against C. difficile, and is, therefore, an essential part of the innate immune response to C. difficle infection.
“Taken together, these data suggest that nutrient Zn levels have a key role in determining susceptibility to CDI and severity of disease, and that calprotectin-mediated metal limitation is an important factor in the host immune response to C. difficile,” the authors wrote.
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