A Colombian strain of Clostridioides difficile ribotype 002 induces a highly inflammatory response in a mouse infection model

Clostridioides difficile causes diarrhea associated with antibiotic use in hospitalized patients. Recent studies have identified that C. difficile ribotypes RT002, RT106, and RT591 as the most prevalent circulating strains in Colombia; thus, we aimed to assess the capability of these ribotypes to el...

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Main Authors: Juan David Puerta-Arias, Julián Camilo Arango, Carolina Rodríguez-Echeverri, Ariel Arteta, Ángel González
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Virulence
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21505594.2025.2503432
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author Juan David Puerta-Arias
Julián Camilo Arango
Carolina Rodríguez-Echeverri
Ariel Arteta
Ángel González
author_facet Juan David Puerta-Arias
Julián Camilo Arango
Carolina Rodríguez-Echeverri
Ariel Arteta
Ángel González
author_sort Juan David Puerta-Arias
collection DOAJ
description Clostridioides difficile causes diarrhea associated with antibiotic use in hospitalized patients. Recent studies have identified that C. difficile ribotypes RT002, RT106, and RT591 as the most prevalent circulating strains in Colombia; thus, we aimed to assess the capability of these ribotypes to elicit an inflammatory response during in vivo infection. To achieve this, C57BL/6 mice were treated with cefoperazone (CPZ) for 5 d to develop C. difficile infection (CDI) model. Two days post-antibiotic treatment, the mice were orally inoculated with 1 × 105 spores of C. difficile strains belonging to ribotypes RT002, RT106, RT591, and RT027 (ATCC strain, used as control). A group of animals was euthanized on day 7 post-infection to determine the bacterial load, total leukocyte number, and chemokines/cytokines levels in situ, and for histopathological analysis. RT002-infected groups showed significantly higher bacterial load, CD45+ leukocytes, and RANTES, eotaxin, MCP-1, G-CSF, and IL-2 levels compared to the other groups, suggesting a robust immune response. Furthermore, histopathological analysis of colonic tissue from the group infected with RT002 revealed the presence of an inflammatory response similar to the hypervirulent strain RT027. These results suggest that RT002 of C. difficile, one of the main circulating strains in Colombia, can induce a severe inflammatory response, potentially correlating with increased virulence and severity of these strains in CDI cases.
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spelling doaj-art-c27e08ea28964d80b9e29fd1e598eed52025-08-20T03:52:48ZengTaylor & Francis GroupVirulence2150-55942150-56082025-12-0116110.1080/21505594.2025.2503432A Colombian strain of Clostridioides difficile ribotype 002 induces a highly inflammatory response in a mouse infection modelJuan David Puerta-Arias0Julián Camilo Arango1Carolina Rodríguez-Echeverri2Ariel Arteta3Ángel González4Medical and Experimental Mycology Group, Corporación para Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB-UdeA-UPB-UDES), Medellín, ColombiaMedical and Experimental Mycology Group, Corporación para Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB-UdeA-UPB-UDES), Medellín, ColombiaBasic and Applied Microbiology Research Group (MICROBA), School of Microbiology, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, ColombiaPathology Department, School of Medicine, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, ColombiaSchool of Microbiology, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, ColombiaClostridioides difficile causes diarrhea associated with antibiotic use in hospitalized patients. Recent studies have identified that C. difficile ribotypes RT002, RT106, and RT591 as the most prevalent circulating strains in Colombia; thus, we aimed to assess the capability of these ribotypes to elicit an inflammatory response during in vivo infection. To achieve this, C57BL/6 mice were treated with cefoperazone (CPZ) for 5 d to develop C. difficile infection (CDI) model. Two days post-antibiotic treatment, the mice were orally inoculated with 1 × 105 spores of C. difficile strains belonging to ribotypes RT002, RT106, RT591, and RT027 (ATCC strain, used as control). A group of animals was euthanized on day 7 post-infection to determine the bacterial load, total leukocyte number, and chemokines/cytokines levels in situ, and for histopathological analysis. RT002-infected groups showed significantly higher bacterial load, CD45+ leukocytes, and RANTES, eotaxin, MCP-1, G-CSF, and IL-2 levels compared to the other groups, suggesting a robust immune response. Furthermore, histopathological analysis of colonic tissue from the group infected with RT002 revealed the presence of an inflammatory response similar to the hypervirulent strain RT027. These results suggest that RT002 of C. difficile, one of the main circulating strains in Colombia, can induce a severe inflammatory response, potentially correlating with increased virulence and severity of these strains in CDI cases.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21505594.2025.2503432Clostridioides difficileCDIRT002 ribotypecytokinesinflammatory response
spellingShingle Juan David Puerta-Arias
Julián Camilo Arango
Carolina Rodríguez-Echeverri
Ariel Arteta
Ángel González
A Colombian strain of Clostridioides difficile ribotype 002 induces a highly inflammatory response in a mouse infection model
Virulence
Clostridioides difficile
CDI
RT002 ribotype
cytokines
inflammatory response
title A Colombian strain of Clostridioides difficile ribotype 002 induces a highly inflammatory response in a mouse infection model
title_full A Colombian strain of Clostridioides difficile ribotype 002 induces a highly inflammatory response in a mouse infection model
title_fullStr A Colombian strain of Clostridioides difficile ribotype 002 induces a highly inflammatory response in a mouse infection model
title_full_unstemmed A Colombian strain of Clostridioides difficile ribotype 002 induces a highly inflammatory response in a mouse infection model
title_short A Colombian strain of Clostridioides difficile ribotype 002 induces a highly inflammatory response in a mouse infection model
title_sort colombian strain of clostridioides difficile ribotype 002 induces a highly inflammatory response in a mouse infection model
topic Clostridioides difficile
CDI
RT002 ribotype
cytokines
inflammatory response
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21505594.2025.2503432
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