Gut Microbiota Interspecies Interactions may Impact the Efficacy of Antibiotics Against C. Difficile

Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is a bacterium that can infect the large intestine, with symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening colon damage. A study publishing May 11th in PLOS Biology by Ophelia Venturelli at University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, and colleagues suggests that between-species interactions within the gut microbiome may impact the efficacy of antibiotics aimed at treating C. difficile infections.

C. difficile infections occur in the context of complex resident gut communities. However, antibiotic treatments aimed at eliminating the bacterium are designed based on C. difficile's measured susceptibility to drugs in monoculture without considering its interactions with other bacteria. In order to better understand susceptibility-altering microbial interactions across different microbial communities, researchers performed experiments to test the effectiveness of two antibiotics used to treat C. difficile infections, vancomycin and metronidazole, in a diverse human gut community. To identify the ecological principles underlying the interspecies interactions, they built a computational model to understand the interplay of microbial interactions and antibiotics on C. difficile growth.

The researchers found that bacterial species that are more susceptible to the tested antibiotics than C. difficile allow C. difficile to grow in the absence of ecological competition, and increase the abundance of C. difficile in the presence of sub-lethal concentrations of metronidazole. The authors also found that the presence of a specific bacterial species makes C. difficile tolerant to metronidazole. The study was limited to only two antibiotics, so future research should prioritize how interspecies interactions may affect the efficacy of other clinically relevant drugs.

According to the authors, "These results provide key insights into ecological principles and molecular mechanisms influencing antibiotic susceptibility in this health-relevant system. Our work demonstrates that pathogen growth can be altered by inter-species interactions across a wide range of antibiotic concentrations, which should be considered in the design of antibiotic treatments."

The human gut pathogen Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is embedded in a dense and diverse human gut community that influences its colonization ability, growth and functions. Using a bottom-up community assembly approach, we demonstrate that C. difficile's response to clinically relevant antibiotics can be altered by an antibiotic-induced reduction in the strength of bacterial competition or global shifts in C. difficile's cellular state in the presence of the commensal gut species Desulfovibrio piger."

Ophelia Venturelli, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

Source:
Journal reference:

Hromada, S., & Venturelli, O. S. (2023). Gut microbiota interspecies interactions shape the response of Clostridioides difficile to clinically relevant antibiotics. PLOS Biology. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002100.

Comments

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of AZoLifeSciences.
Post a new comment
Post

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.

You might also like...
How Comamonas Bacteria Transform Plastic Waste into Food