pectins and Clostridium-Infections

Diets rich in fiber may provide health benefits and regulate the gut microbiome, which affects the immune system. However, the role of dietary fiber in

Topics: Animals; Cellulose; Clostridioides difficile; Clostridium Infections; Cytokines; Dietary Fiber; Disease Models, Animal; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous; Inulin; Mice; Pectins

Clostridium difficile flagellin FliC is a highly immunogenic pathogen-associated molecular pattern playing a key role in C. difficile pathogenesis and gut colonization. Here, we designed an oral vaccine against C. difficile with FliC encapsulated into pectin beads for colonic release. Bead stability and FliC retention was confirmed in vitro using simulated intestinal media (SIM), while bead degradation and FliC release was observed upon incubation in simulated colonic media (SCM). The importance of FliC encapsulation into pectin beads for protection against C. difficile was assessed in a vaccination assay using a lethal hamster model of C. difficile infection. Three groups of hamsters orally received either FliC-loaded beads or unloaded beads in gastro-resistant capsule to limit gastric degradation or free FliC. Two other groups were immunized with free FliC, one intra-rectally and the other intra-peritoneally. Hamsters were then challenged with a lethal dose of C. difficile VPI 10463. Fifty percent of hamsters orally immunized with FliC-loaded beads survived whereas all hamsters orally immunized with free FliC died within 7 days post challenge. No significant protection was observed in the other groups. Only intra-peritoneally immunized hamsters presented anti-FliC IgG antibodies in sera after immunizations. These results suggest that an oral immunization with FliC-loaded beads probably induced a mucosal immune response, therefore providing a protective effect. This study confirms the importance of FliC encapsulation into pectin beads for a protective oral vaccine against C. difficile.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Animals; Bacterial Proteins; Bacterial Vaccines; Capsules; Clostridioides difficile; Clostridium Infections; Colon; Cricetinae; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Flagellin; Immunity, Mucosal; Immunoglobulin G; Microspheres; Pectins; Vaccination

Topics: Animals; Antidiarrheals; Bacterial Proteins; Bacterial Toxins; Biocompatible Materials; Chitosan; Clostridium Infections; Colon; Drug Delivery Systems; Enterotoxins; Immunoglobulins; Microspheres; Pectins; Rats

We have designed an oral vaccine against Clostridium difficile infection. The virulent factor Cwp84, that is a cystein protease highly immunogenic in patients with C. difficile-associated disease, was entrapped within pectin beads. Beads encapsulating Cwp84 were shown to be stable in the simulated intestinal medium and to release the cystein protease once in the simulated colonic medium. Three groups of hamsters were immunized, the first receiving pectin beads encapsulating Cwp84, the second unloaded beads and the third one free Cwp84. After three immunizations by the intragastric route, all groups received clindamycine. Post-challenge survival with a strain of C. difficile showed that 2 days after infection, all hamsters treated with unloaded beads and all hamsters treated with free Cwp84 have deceased after 7 days, whereas about 40% of hamsters administered with Cwp84-loaded beads survived 10 days after challenge, proving that oral vaccination provides partial protection. These first data obtained with an oral vaccine against C. difficile appear promising for preventing this infection.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antibodies, Bacterial; Bacterial Vaccines; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; Clostridioides difficile; Clostridium Infections; Cricetinae; Cysteine Endopeptidases; Disease Models, Animal; Drug Carriers; Drug Compounding; Drug Stability; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Immunoglobulin G; Molecular Weight; Pectins; Survival Analysis

Necrotic enteritis (NE) is a worldwide poultry disease caused by the alpha toxin-producing bacterium Clostridium perfringens. Disease risk factors include concurrent coccidial infection and the dietary use of cereal grains high in nonstarch polysaccharides (NSP), such as wheat, barley, rye, and oats. Outbreaks of NE can be prevented or treated by the use of in-feed antibiotics. However, the current debate regarding the prophylactic use of antibiotics in animal diets necessitates a better understanding of factors that influence intestinal colonization by C. perfringens as well as the pathophysiological consequences of its growth. We report a study with a chick model of NE, which used molecular (16S rRNA gene [16S rDNA]) and culture-based microbiological techniques to investigate the impact of the macrolide antibiotic tylosin phosphate (100 ppm) and a dietary NSP (pectin) on the community structure of the small intestinal microbiota relative to colonization by C. perfringens. The effects of tylosin and pectin on mucolytic activity of the microbiota and C. perfringens colonization and their relationship to pathological indices of NE were of particular interest. The data demonstrate that tylosin reduced the percentage of mucolytic bacteria in general and the concentration of C. perfringens in particular, and these responses correlated in a temporal fashion with a reduction in the occurrence of NE lesions and an improvement in barrier function. The presence of pectin did not significantly affect the variables measured. Thus, it appears that tylosin can control NE through its modulation of C. perfringens colonization and the mucolytic activity of the intestinal microbiota.

Topics: Animal Feed; Animals; Chickens; Clostridium Infections; Clostridium perfringens; Disease Models, Animal; DNA, Bacterial; DNA, Ribosomal; Duodenum; Enteritis; Ileum; Intestinal Mucosa; Necrosis; Pectins; Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Tylosin

Two trials utilizing two corn diets and four wheat diets were conducted. In Trial 2, all chicks were crop-infused at 9 d of age with Eimeria acervulina. In both trials, a broth culture of Clostridium perfringens was mixed with the diets for 3 consecutive d. Necrotic enteritis lesion scores were lowest in chickens consuming the corn diet with no C. perfringens and highest in chickens fed the wheat diets with C. perfringens. Chickens consuming a wheat diet with no added complex carbohydrates or added fiber exhibited the highest lesion score. Chickens on wheat diets with 4% new, ground, pine shavings had intestinal lesion scores intermediate to those of chickens that consumed the wheat or corn diets. Chickens consuming corn diets yielded the lowest lesion scores. Chickens provided diets containing either guar gum or pectin were not fully consumed and thus probably reduced the number of challenge organisms ingested.

Topics: Animals; Chickens; Clostridium Infections; Clostridium perfringens; Coccidiosis; Diet; Dietary Carbohydrates; Dietary Fiber; Duodenum; Eimeria; Enteritis; Galactans; Incidence; Mannans; Necrosis; Pectins; Plant Gums; Poultry Diseases; Random Allocation; Triticum; Zea mays