Study identifies new way to treat common hospital-acquired infection

Researchers have discovered a molecular process by which the body can defend against the effects of Clostridium difficile infection, according to a study published online in Nature Medicine.

The findings, according to a UCLA press release, could point the way to a new approach for treating Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), a disease that has grown in severity and difficulty in recent years. Incidence of CDI have doubled over the past decade, primarily due to the emergence of a new, highly virulent strain of the bacteria that causes it.

“We are treating a disease caused by antibiotics with yet another antibiotic, which creates the conditions for re-infection from the same bacteria,” study co-author Charalabos Pothoulakis, MD, stated in the release. “Identification of new treatment modalities for treat this infection would be a major advance.”

Researchers with UCLA and the University of Texas noted in laboratory studies that when infected with Clostridium difficile, human cells in the gut are capable of releasing molecules that neutralize the toxins and render them harmless. Further animal studies showed that using the protein s-nitrosylation to induce this process inhibited Clostridium difficile toxins from destroying intestinal cells.

The researchers are preparing to launch clinical trials using their discovery as a new CDI therapeutic approach.

“We already know through gene-sequencing analysis that hundreds of microbial proteins can be regulated by s-nitrosylation,” Pothoulakis stated. “If we are successful with this approach, we may be able to treat other bacterial diseases in a similar way.”

Reference:

Savidge TC, Urvil P, Oezguen N, et al. Host s-nitrosylation inhibits clostridial small molecule-activated glucosylating toxins. Nat Med. 2011. doi:10.1038/nm.2405.

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