title: Clostridium difficile infection in diabetes.
abstract: Diabetes-related hospitalization and hospital utilization is a serious challenge to the health care system, a situation which may be further aggravated by nosocomial Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection (CDI). Studies have demonstrated that diabetes increases the risk of recurrent CDI with OR (95% CI) 2.99 (1.88, 4.76). C. difficile is a gram-positive, spore-forming anaerobic bacterium which is widely distributed in the environment. Up to 7% of healthy adults and up to 45% of infants may have asymptomatic intestinal carriage of C. difficile. A large number of strains of C. difficile have been identified. A number of PCR or sequence-based molecular typing methods are available for typing C. difficile isolates. C. difficile virulence evolved independently in the highly epidemic lineages, associated with the expression of toxin genes and other virulence factors. This article briefly reviews recent progresses in the bateriology of C. difficile and highlights the limited knowledge of potential mechanisms for the increased risk of CDI in diabetes which warrants further research.
authors.affiliation: Human Genetics Center, The University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA. Electronic address: huiqi.qu@uth.tmc.edu.
authors.forename: Hui-Qi
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Center for Infectious Diseases, Division of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Zhi-Dong
authors.initials: ZD
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000145:classification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000382:microbiology*; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000382:microbiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000145:classification
chemical_list: D037521:Virulence Factors
keywords: Clostridium difficile; Diabetes; Gut microbiota; Host immunity