title: Use of probiotics in prevention and treatment of patients with Clostridium difficile infection.
abstract: Clostridium difficile is an anaerobic, gram positive, sporulating, toxin-producing bacillus which causes a spectrum of clinical disease ranging from an asymptomatic carrier state to toxic megacolon and fulminant disease. Infection with C. difficile is an expensive and pervasive health care burden. The current theory regarding the development of C. difficile infection (CDI) suggests that disruption of the structure and/or function of an individual's normal intestinal microbiota enables colonization by C. difficile, and in the absence of an effective immune response, the bacteria causes illness. In this article we discuss the role of the colonic microbiota in the development of CDI and the potential role of probiotics in preventing and treating CDI. We review the evidence from in vitro laboratory and pre-clinical studies, as well as evidence from clinical studies and discuss the current recommendations for the use of probiotics for CDI in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva, Israel.
authors.forename: Jacob E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Ollech
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Carl V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva, Israel; Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Yehuda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ringel
mesh_terms: D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000502:physiology*; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000502:physiology; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D019936:Probiotics / Q000627:therapeutic use*
keywords: Clostridium difficile; Intestinal microbiome; Probiotics; Pseudomembranous colitis