Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Dec 5;77(Suppl 6):S463-S470.
doi: 10.1093/cid/ciad644.

Review Article: Gastroenterology and Clostridium difficile Infection: Past, Present, and Future

Colleen R Kelly  1   2 , Jessica R Allegretti  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Review Article: Gastroenterology and Clostridium difficile Infection: Past, Present, and Future

Colleen R Kelly et al. Clin Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Research and innovation around Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has been a multidisciplinary endeavor since discovery of the organism in 1978. The field of gastroenterology has contributed to our understanding of CDI as a disease caused by disruptions in the gut microbiome and led to advances in therapeutic manipulation of gut microbiota, including fecal microbiota transplantation. The high incidence of CDI in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and treatment of the infection in this population have been of particular interest to gastroenterologists. The emergence of standardized, approved live biotherapeutic products for treatment of recurrent CDI is an inflection point in our management of this difficult clinical problem, and real-world performance of these therapies will inform optimal treatment algorithms.

Keywords: Clostridioides difficile; Clostridium difficile; FMT; gut microbiome; pseudomembranous colitis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. C. R. K. reports consulting fees from Sebela Pharmaceuticals; support for attending the 2023 International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISPAA) annual meeting as the invited cochair; serving on the clinical advisory board of OpenBiome; and serving as section chair of Basic and Clinical Intestinal Disorders with the American Gastroenterological Association. J. A. reports grant support from Merck, Janssen, Pfizer, and the National Institutes of Health (all unrelated to this work). J. A. reports receiving consultancy fees from Janssen, Pfizer, AbbvVie, Iterative Scopes, Finch Therapeutics, Seres Therapeutics, Ferring, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, Roivant, and Adiso; payments for speaking with Bristol Myers Squibb, AbbVie, and Janssen; payments for testimony from Finch Therapeutics; and participation on a data and safety monitoring board for Merck. Both authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed.

LinkOut - more resources