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Newcomer EP, Fishbein SRS, Zhang K, Hink T, Reske KA, Cass C, Iqbal ZH, Struttmann EL, Burnham CAD, Dubberke ER, Dantas G. Genomic surveillance of Clostridioides difficile transmission and virulence in a healthcare setting. mBio 2024; 15:e0330023. [PMID: 38329369 PMCID: PMC10936198 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.03300-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a major cause of healthcare-associated diarrhea, despite the widespread implementation of contact precautions for patients with CDI. Here, we investigate strain contamination in a hospital setting and the genomic determinants of disease outcomes. Across two wards over 6 months, we selectively cultured C. difficile from patients (n = 384) and their environments. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 146 isolates revealed that most C. difficile isolates were from clade 1 (131/146, 89.7%), while only one isolate of the hypervirulent ST1 was recovered. Of culture-positive admissions (n = 79), 19 (24%) patients were colonized with toxigenic C. difficile on admission to the hospital. We defined 25 strain networks at ≤2 core gene single nucleotide polymorphisms; two of these networks contain strains from different patients. Strain networks were temporally linked (P < 0.0001). To understand the genomic correlates of the disease, we conducted WGS on an additional cohort of C. difficile (n = 102 isolates) from the same hospital and confirmed that clade 1 isolates are responsible for most CDI cases. We found that while toxigenic C. difficile isolates are associated with the presence of cdtR, nontoxigenic isolates have an increased abundance of prophages. Our pangenomic analysis of clade 1 isolates suggests that while toxin genes (tcdABER and cdtR) were associated with CDI symptoms, they are dispensable for patient colonization. These data indicate that toxigenic and nontoxigenic C. difficile contamination persist in a hospital setting and highlight further investigation into how accessory genomic repertoires contribute to C. difficile colonization and disease. IMPORTANCE Clostridioides difficile infection remains a leading cause of hospital-associated diarrhea, despite increased antibiotic stewardship and transmission prevention strategies. This suggests a changing genomic landscape of C. difficile. Our study provides insight into the nature of prevalent C. difficile strains in a hospital setting and transmission patterns among carriers. Longitudinal sampling of surfaces and patient stool revealed that both toxigenic and nontoxigenic strains of C. difficile clade 1 dominate these two wards. Moreover, quantification of transmission in carriers of these clade 1 isolates underscores the need to revisit infection prevention measures in this patient group. We identified unique genetic signatures associated with virulence in this clade. Our data highlight the complexities of preventing transmission of this pathogen in a hospital setting and the need to investigate the mechanisms of in vivo persistence and virulence of prevalent lineages in the host gut microbiome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin P. Newcomer
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Skye R. S. Fishbein
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Division of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Kailun Zhang
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Division of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Tiffany Hink
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Kimberly A. Reske
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Candice Cass
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Zainab H. Iqbal
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Emily L. Struttmann
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Carey-Ann D. Burnham
- Division of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Erik R. Dubberke
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Gautam Dantas
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Division of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
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Ferreiro AL, Choi J, Ryou J, Newcomer EP, Thompson R, Bollinger RM, Hall-Moore C, Ndao IM, Sax L, Benzinger TLS, Stark SL, Holtzman DM, Fagan AM, Schindler SE, Cruchaga C, Butt OH, Morris JC, Tarr PI, Ances BM, Dantas G. Gut microbiome composition may be an indicator of preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Sci Transl Med 2023; 15:eabo2984. [PMID: 37315112 PMCID: PMC10680783 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abo2984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 38.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology is thought to progress from normal cognition through preclinical disease and ultimately to symptomatic AD with cognitive impairment. Recent work suggests that the gut microbiome of symptomatic patients with AD has an altered taxonomic composition compared with that of healthy, cognitively normal control individuals. However, knowledge about changes in the gut microbiome before the onset of symptomatic AD is limited. In this cross-sectional study that accounted for clinical covariates and dietary intake, we compared the taxonomic composition and gut microbial function in a cohort of 164 cognitively normal individuals, 49 of whom showed biomarker evidence of early preclinical AD. Gut microbial taxonomic profiles of individuals with preclinical AD were distinct from those of individuals without evidence of preclinical AD. The change in gut microbiome composition correlated with β-amyloid (Aβ) and tau pathological biomarkers but not with biomarkers of neurodegeneration, suggesting that the gut microbiome may change early in the disease process. We identified specific gut bacterial taxa associated with preclinical AD. Inclusion of these microbiome features improved the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of machine learning classifiers for predicting preclinical AD status when tested on a subset of the cohort (65 of the 164 participants). Gut microbiome correlates of preclinical AD neuropathology may improve our understanding of AD etiology and may help to identify gut-derived markers of AD risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aura L. Ferreiro
- Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Division of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - JooHee Choi
- Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Jian Ryou
- Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Erin P. Newcomer
- Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Regina Thompson
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Rebecca M. Bollinger
- Program in Occupational Therapy, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Carla Hall-Moore
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - I. Malick Ndao
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Laurie Sax
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Tammie L. S. Benzinger
- Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Susan L. Stark
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Program in Occupational Therapy, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - David M. Holtzman
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Anne M. Fagan
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Suzanne E. Schindler
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Carlos Cruchaga
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- NeuroGenomics and Informatics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Omar H. Butt
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - John C. Morris
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Phillip I. Tarr
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Beau M. Ances
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
- Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Gautam Dantas
- Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Division of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
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4
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Fishbein SR, Robinson JI, Hink T, Reske KA, Newcomer EP, Burnham CAD, Henderson JP, Dubberke ER, Dantas G. Multi-omics investigation of Clostridioides difficile-colonized patients reveals pathogen and commensal correlates of C. difficile pathogenesis. eLife 2022; 11:72801. [PMID: 35083969 PMCID: PMC8794467 DOI: 10.7554/elife.72801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2021] [Accepted: 01/17/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) imposes a substantial burden on the health care system in the United States. Understanding the biological basis for the spectrum of C. difficile-related disease manifestations is imperative to improving treatment and prevention of CDI. Here, we investigate the correlates of asymptomatic C. difficile colonization using a multi-omics approach. We compared the fecal microbiome and metabolome profiles of patients with CDI versus asymptomatically colonized patients, integrating clinical and pathogen factors into our analysis. We found that CDI patients were more likely to be colonized by strains with the binary toxin (CDT) locus or strains of ribotype 027, which are often hypervirulent. We find that microbiomes of asymptomatically colonized patients are significantly enriched for species in the class Clostridia relative to those of symptomatic patients. Relative to CDI microbiomes, asymptomatically colonized patient microbiomes were enriched with sucrose degradation pathways encoded by commensal Clostridia, in addition to glycoside hydrolases putatively involved in starch and sucrose degradation. Fecal metabolomics corroborates the carbohydrate degradation signature: we identify carbohydrate compounds enriched in asymptomatically colonized patients relative to CDI patients. Further, we reveal that across C. difficile isolates, the carbohydrates sucrose, rhamnose, and lactulose do not serve as robust growth substrates in vitro, consistent with their enriched detection in our metagenomic and metabolite profiling of asymptomatically colonized individuals. We conclude that pathogen genetic variation may be strongly related to disease outcome. More interestingly, we hypothesize that in asymptomatically colonized individuals, carbohydrate metabolism by other commensal Clostridia may prevent CDI by inhibiting C. difficile proliferation. These insights into C. difficile colonization and putative commensal competition suggest novel avenues to develop probiotic or prebiotic therapeutics against CDI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Skye Rs Fishbein
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, United States.,Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, United States
| | - John I Robinson
- Center for Women's Infectious Disease Research, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, United States
| | - Tiffany Hink
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, United States
| | - Kimberly A Reske
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, United States
| | - Erin P Newcomer
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, United States.,Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, United States
| | - Carey-Ann D Burnham
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, United States.,Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, United States.,Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, United States
| | - Jeffrey P Henderson
- Center for Women's Infectious Disease Research, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, United States
| | - Erik R Dubberke
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, United States
| | - Gautam Dantas
- The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, United States.,Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, United States.,Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, United States.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, United States
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