Play all audios:
Access through your institution Buy or subscribe _Clostridiodes difficile_ infection (CDI; formerly known as _Clostridium difficile_ infection) poses a substantial health-care burden, often
resulting in recurrent and difficult-to-treat infections. Findings from two new papers have the potential to push forward diagnosis and treatment of CDI, providing insights into metabolomic
networks during human infection and new approaches to treatment using antisporulation agents, respectively. The researchers found that shifts in faecal metabolomes could distinguish patients
with CDI from those with non-_C. difficile_ diarrhoea or those only colonized by _C. difficile_. Numerous CDI-associated metabolites were identified, and of 2,463 features detected in the
cohort, 43 had some ability to resolve CDI from uncolonized controls. Patients with CDI had a distinct chemical signature of Stickland amino acid fermentation, which was suggestive of _C.
difficile_ preferentially catabolizing branched-chain amino acids during CDI. Noncanonical, unsaturated bile acids (such as cholenoic acid) were depleted in patients with CDI and were more
abundant in the non-CDI group. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature
Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription $29.99 / 30 days cancel any time Learn more Subscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year only $17.42 per issue Learn more Buy this article * Purchase on SpringerLink * Instant access to full article PDF Buy now Prices may be subject to local taxes which are
calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support REFERENCES ORIGINAL ARTICLES * Robinson,
J. I. et al. Metabolomic networks connect host-microbiome processes to human _Clostridiodes difficile_ infections. _J. Clin. Invest._ https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI126905 (2019) Article PubMed
PubMed Central Google Scholar * Srikhanta, Y. N. et al. Cephamycins inhibit pathogen sporulation and effectively treat recurrent _Clostridiodes difficile_ infection. _Nat. Microbiol._
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-019-0519-1 (2019) Article PubMed Google Scholar Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Nature Reviews Gastroenterology &
Hepatology http://www.nature.com/nrgastro/ Katrina Ray Authors * Katrina Ray View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Correspondence to Katrina Ray. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Ray, K. Closing in on _C. difficile_ infection. _Nat Rev Gastroenterol
Hepatol_ 16, 581 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-019-0206-y Download citation * Published: 29 August 2019 * Issue Date: October 2019 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-019-0206-y
SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to
clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative