TY - JOUR
T1 - Disruption of the gut microbiome: Clostridium difficile infection and the threat of antibiotic resistance
AU - Johanesen, Priscilla A
AU - Mackin, Kate E
AU - Hutton, Melanie L
AU - Awad, Milena M
AU - Larcombe, Sarah
AU - Amy, Jacob M
AU - Lyras, Dena
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Clostridium difficile is well recognized as the leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, having a significant impact in both health-care and community settings. Central to predisposition to C. difficile infection is disruption of the gut microbiome by antibiotics. Being a Gram-positive anaerobe, C. difficile is intrinsically resistant to a number of antibiotics. Mobile elements encoding antibiotic resistance determinants have also been characterized in this pathogen. While resistance to antibiotics currently used to treat C. difficile infection has not yet been detected, it may be only a matter of time before this occurs, as has been seen with other bacterial pathogens. This review will discuss C. difficile disease pathogenesis, the impact of antibiotic use on inducing disease susceptibility, and the role of antibiotic resistance and mobile elements in C. difficile epidemiology.
AB - Clostridium difficile is well recognized as the leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, having a significant impact in both health-care and community settings. Central to predisposition to C. difficile infection is disruption of the gut microbiome by antibiotics. Being a Gram-positive anaerobe, C. difficile is intrinsically resistant to a number of antibiotics. Mobile elements encoding antibiotic resistance determinants have also been characterized in this pathogen. While resistance to antibiotics currently used to treat C. difficile infection has not yet been detected, it may be only a matter of time before this occurs, as has been seen with other bacterial pathogens. This review will discuss C. difficile disease pathogenesis, the impact of antibiotic use on inducing disease susceptibility, and the role of antibiotic resistance and mobile elements in C. difficile epidemiology.
UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4690045/pdf/genes-06-01347.pdf
U2 - 10.3390/genes6041347
DO - 10.3390/genes6041347
M3 - Article
VL - 6
SP - 1347
EP - 1360
JO - Genes
JF - Genes
SN - 2073-4425
IS - 4
ER -