title: Assessing the role of p-cresol tolerance in Clostridium difficile.
abstract: Clostridium difficile is an important nosocomial pathogen, resulting in antibiotic-associated disease ranging from mild diarrhoea to the life-threatening pseudomembranous colitis. Upon antibiotic exposure, it is believed that the normal bowel microflora of patients is disrupted, allowing C. difficile to proliferate. Significantly, C. difficile is among only a few bacteria able to ferment tyrosine to p-cresol, a phenolic compound that is toxic to other microbes via its ability to interfere with metabolism. Therefore, the ability of different C. difficile strains to produce and tolerate p-cresol may play an important role in the development and severity of C. difficile-associated disease. In this study, it was demonstrated that two C. difficile hypervirulent 027 strains (Stoke Mandeville and BI-16) are more tolerant to p-cresol than other C. difficile strains including 630, CF4 and CD196. Surprising, it was shown that Clostridium sordellii also has a high tolerance to p-cresol, suggesting an overlap in the tolerance pathways in these clostridial species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
authors.forename: Lisa F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Stabler
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
authors.forename: Brendan W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Wren
mesh_terms: D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D003016:Clostridium perfringens / Q000187:drug effects; D047989:Paraclostridium sordellii / Q000187:drug effects; D003408:Cresols / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D003408:Cresols; C032538:4-cresol