Humanized microbiota mice as a model of recurrent Clostridium difficile disease.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Clostridium difficile disease is the leading antibiotic-associated cause of diarrhea and nosocomial acquired infection in the western world. The per annum burden in the USA alone amounts to 250,000 cases with 14,000 ascribed deaths and medical costs in excess of a billion dollars. Novel models for the study of C. difficile infection are therefore pertinent.

Results

Germ free C57BL/6 mice gavaged with a healthy human fecal microbiota maintained a stable "humanized" microbiota over multiple generations when housed under specific pathogen-free (SPF) conditions. As with mice containing a conventional microbiota, treatment with a five-antibiotic cocktail followed by a single dose of clindamycin renders the animals susceptible to C. difficile infection (CDI). Interestin

SUBMITTER: Collins J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4546040 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature