A team of scientists at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor have examined the effect of Clostridium difficile on mice to better understand how the bacterium takes its toll on the digestive track.
The researchers started by giving the mice antibiotics (since most patients who develop C. diff had previously received antibiotics), followed by C. diff spores. Then, the researchers tracked the bacterium through the systems of the mice for hours on end.
They found it took only about 24 hours for C. diff to go from hard spores to toxin-producing, diarrhea-inducing cells in the digestive tract. Additionally, they found bile acids "woke up" dormant bacteria spores.
Senior author of the study Vincent Young, MD, PhD, described the importance of tracking the bacterium through the system.
"If we can understand the process that specific bacteria use to germinate and get established, we may be able to intervene more effectively," said Dr. Young. "We assume that antibiotics change the gut microbiome, but we haven't known how that allows C. diff to gain a foothold and begin to ramp up growth."
Another exciting discovery the team made related to two separate processes. They noticed, for the first time in a living animal that toxic production and production of new C. diff spores occurred at the same time and may actually be linked, according to the study.
Going forward, the researchers want to identify what the signal is that links the two processes, whether the behavior of different strains of the bacterium varies and who is most vulnerable to its effects.
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