Systems Modeling of Interactions between Mucosal Immunity and the Gut Microbiome during Clostridium difficile Infection.

ABSTRACT: Clostridium difficile infections are associated with the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and result in an exuberant inflammatory response, leading to nosocomial diarrhea, colitis and even death. To better understand the dynamics of mucosal immunity during C. difficile infection from initiation through expansion to resolution, we built a computational model of the mucosal immune response to the bacterium. The model was calibrated using data from a mouse model of C. difficile infection. The model demonstrates a crucial role of T helper 17 (Th17) effector responses in the colonic lamina propria and luminal commensal bacteria populations in the clearance of C. difficile and colonic pathology, whereas regulatory T (Treg) cells responses are associated with the recovery phase. In addition, the

SUBMITTER: Leber A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4521955 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature