Dietary zinc alters the microbiota and decreases resistance to Clostridium difficile infection

Joseph P Zackular, Jessica L Moore, Ashley T Jordan, Lillian J Juttukonda, Michael J Noto, Maribeth R Nicholson, Jonathan D Crews, Matthew W Semler, Yaofang Zhang, Lorraine B Ware, M Kay Washington, Walter J Chazin, Richard M Caprioli & Eric P Skaar.

Nature medicine. 2016 Nov; 22(11):1330-1334.

Speaker: Shiau-Ting Yang (楊曉婷)                             Time: 15:00~16:00, Mar. 22, 2017

Commentator: Dr. Ching-Hao Teng (鄧景浩教授)  Place: Room 601

Abstract:

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a gram-positive, spore-forming anaerobic bacillus and a cause of emerging global health concern in both hospital and community settings (1). The primary risk factor for C. difficile infection (CDI) is antibiotic use, which provide colonization resistance to C. difficile by disrupting the diversity of the gut microbiota (2). However, non-antibiotic-associated CDI cases are increasing, suggesting that other unknown host and environmental factors probably affect susceptibility to C. difficile. In this article, the authors focus on diet, which is one of the most important environmental factors influencing the gut microbiota (3). They found that dietary zinc (Zn) has an important role in modulating the community structure and diversity of gut microbiota. Using a mice model of diet manipulation and C. difficile infection, the authors demonstrated that excess dietary Zn lowers the amount of antibiotic necessary to confer susceptibility to CDI. Furthermore, increased Zn levels exacerbate the severity and symptoms of C. difficile–associated disease by increasing the activity of toxins. In addition, the authors indicated that the host factor Zn-binding protein calprotectin has antimicrobial activity against C. difficile and is important for combating C. difficile by limiting Zn availability. Taken together, dietary Zn is crucial in determining the susceptibility to CDI through altering the microbiota, and calprotectin-mediated metal limitation is a critical host immune defense strategy to avoid C. difficile infection.

References:

1.     Leffler DA and Lamont JT. (2015) Clostridium difficile infection. The New England journal of medicine. 372(16):1539-48..

2.     Theriot CM, et al. (2014) Antibiotic-induced shifts in the mouse gut microbiome and metabolome increase susceptibility to Clostridium difficile infection. Nature communications. 5:3114.

3.     David LA, et al. (2014) Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome. Nature. 505(7484):559-63.