title: Administration of probiotic kefir to mice with Clostridium difficile infection exacerbates disease.
abstract: Lifeway(®) kefir, a fermented milk product containing 12 probiotic organisms, is reported to show promise as an alternative to fecal microbiota transplantation for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). We employed a murine CDI model to study the probiotic protective mechanisms and unexpectedly determined that kefir drastically increased disease severity. Our results emphasize the need for further independent clinical testing of kefir as alternative therapy in recurrent CDI.
authors.affiliation: Texas Children's Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Texas Children's Hospital, 1102 Bates Ave., Houston, TX, USA; Department of Pathology & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, USA. Electronic address: spinler@bcm.edu.
authors.forename: Jennifer K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Spinler
authors.affiliation: Texas Children's Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Texas Children's Hospital, 1102 Bates Ave., Houston, TX, USA; Department of Pathology & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Texas Children's Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Texas Children's Hospital, 1102 Bates Ave., Houston, TX, USA; Department of Pathology & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Caná L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.affiliation: Texas Children's Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Texas Children's Hospital, 1102 Bates Ave., Houston, TX, USA; Department of Pathology & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Prapaporn
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boonma
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Conner
authors.affiliation: Texas Children's Microbiome Center, Department of Pathology, Texas Children's Hospital, 1102 Bates Ave., Houston, TX, USA; Department of Pathology & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Tor C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Savidge
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018450:Disease Progression; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000382:microbiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000187:drug effects; D000070716:Kefir / Q000009:adverse effects*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D019936:Probiotics / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016019:Survival Analysis
keywords: Clostridium difficile; Fecal microbiota transplantation; Kefir; Probiotic; Toxin