A new macrocyclic antibiotic, fidaxomicin (OPT-80), causes less alteration to the bowel microbiota of Clostridium difficile-infected patients than does vancomycin.
Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the most common identifiable cause of diarrhoea in hospitalized patients. Current therapies rely on the administration of metronidazole or vancomycin, which reduce vegetative populations of C. difficile in the bowel. Recurrence of the disease when treatment with these antibiotics ceases indicates that metronidazole and vancomycin affect not only C. difficile but also commensal populations that normally mediate competitive exclusion. Fidaxomicin is a new antibiotic that inhibits C. difficile. Our study shows that fidaxomicin had little effect on the composition of the faecal microbiota in terms of its major phylogenetic clusters. Notably, clostridial clusters XIVa and IV, and Bifidobacterium, were much less affected by fidaxomicin compared to vancomycin treatment. These findings help to explain the substantially reduced rates of relapse following treatment of CDI with fidaxomicin in recent clinical trials.
Tannock
Gerald W
GW
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Munro
Karen
K
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Taylor
Corinda
C
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Lawley
Blair
B
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Young
Wayne
W
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Byrne
Brendan
B
Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Emery
Judy
J
Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Louie
Thomas
T
Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
D000617:Aminoglycosides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000187:drug effects; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D000077732:Fidaxomicin; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D054892:Metagenome / Q000187:drug effects*; D010802:Phylogeny; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000617:Aminoglycosides; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D014640:Vancomycin; D000077732:Fidaxomicin