IBD: When C. Diff Strikes Gut dysbiosis predisposes patients to infection

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has been on the rise in recent decades, with increases in both the incidence and severity. It is now classified as an urgent antibiotic resistance threat. When C. diff develops in a patient with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) -- ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease -- the potential consequences include the need for hospital admission, colectomy, and even death. Patients with IBD face an increased susceptibility to CDI because of their underlying gut dysbiosis, explained Sahil Khanna, MBBS, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "In these patients, the variety of gut bacteria decreases, and the titers of some useful bacteria like Bacteroidetes decrease." Those helpful bacteria typically keep C. diff in check, but when the microbiota is altered, the environment becomes favorable for C. diff infection, he explained. https://www.medpagetoday.com/reading-room/aga/lower-gi/64226?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2017-03-31&eun=g721819d0r&pos=3