Advances in sequencing technology and the development of metagenomics have opened up new ways to investigate the microorganisms inhabiting the human gut. The intestinal microbiota confer protection against pathogens, contribute to the maturation of the immune system, and regulate host metabolism. The composition of gut microbiota in early life is influenced by mode of birth, diet, and antibiotics. Decreased biodiversity and alterations in the composition of the intestinal microbiota have been observed in many diseases including obesity, neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and recurrent Clostridium difficile infection. Therapeutic options for the diseases linked to imbalance in the microbiota include modifying the gut microbiota through diet, probiotics, and fecal transplants.
Animals ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; Clostridium difficile/isolation & purification/pathogenicity ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous/drug therapy/microbiology/pathology ; Fatty Liver/etiology/microbiology ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/etiology/microbiology ; Intestines/*microbiology ; *Microbiota ; Obesity/etiology/microbiology

Clostridium difficile, an anaerobic, spore-forming, gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium, is the most common nosocomial pathogen causing pseudomembranous colitis. C. difficile is not intrinsically invasive and rarely infects extraintestinal sites. The bacterium, therefore, is not commonly detected in blood cultures. Here, we report a case of C. difficile bacteremia in a patient who had underwent loop ileostomy because of rectal obstruction following metastatic colon cancer originated from prostate cancer.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/*therapeutic use ; Bacteremia/*drug therapy ; Clostridium difficile/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Colonic Neoplasms/pathology/secondary ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous/drug therapy/microbiology ; Humans ; Ileostomy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostatic Neoplasms/pathology ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/chemistry/genetics ; Sequence Analysis, RNA

Clostridium difficile, an anaerobic, spore-forming, gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium, is the most common nosocomial pathogen causing pseudomembranous colitis. C. difficile is not intrinsically invasive and rarely infects extraintestinal sites. The bacterium, therefore, is not commonly detected in blood cultures. Here, we report a case of C. difficile bacteremia in a patient who had underwent loop ileostomy because of rectal obstruction following metastatic colon cancer originated from prostate cancer.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/*therapeutic use ; Bacteremia/*drug therapy ; Clostridium difficile/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Colonic Neoplasms/pathology/secondary ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous/drug therapy/microbiology ; Humans ; Ileostomy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostatic Neoplasms/pathology ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/chemistry/genetics ; Sequence Analysis, RNA