title: New perspectives in Clostridium difficile disease pathogenesis.
abstract: Clostridium difficile is associated with a spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic carriage to severe life-threatening pseudomembranous colitis. Current perspectives indicate that C difficile pathogenesis is a multifactorial disease process dictated by pathogenic toxin production, gut microbial dysbiosis, and altered host inflammatory responses. This article summarizes recent findings underpinning the cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating bacterial virulence and sheds new light on the critical roles of the host immune response, intestinal microbiota, and metabolome in mediating disease pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Unit, NIHR Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Derby Road, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK. Electronic address: tanya.monaghan@nottingham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Tanya M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Monaghan
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity / Q000502:physiology; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000502:physiology; D064307:Microbiota; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D037521:Virulence Factors
keywords: Clostridium difficile; Host response; Microbiota; Spore; Virulence factors