ArticleNature medicine2016
Dietary zinc alters the microbiota and decreases resistance to Clostridium difficile infection.
Article in Nature medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 169 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
169 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 273 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gut microbiota bridges dietary nutrients and host immunity.Science China. Life sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Zip14 (Slc39a14) metal transporter dysfunction leads toGut microbes · 2026Article
- Ecological and dietary strategies to constrain Clostridioides difficile.Cell host & microbe · 2026Review
- Acidification-dependent suppression ofInfection and immunity · 2026Article
- Acidification-dependent suppression ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Enteric Infections, Dysbiosis, and Metabolic Dysfunction: The Role of Diarrheagenic Pathogens in Insulin Resistance.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Food-derived molecules as regulators of intestinal tight junctions and barrier function: mechanisms and implications.Frontiers in drug delivery · 2026Review
- Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Imaging Mass Spectrometry.Nature reviews. Methods primers · 2026Article
- Dietary iron attenuatesVirulence · 2025Article
- Forging biofilms: metal-induced microbial responses in biofilm formation.Journal of bacteriology · 2025Review
- The Vicious Circle of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease When Micronutrient Deficiency Drives Microbial Imbalance and Liver Injury.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The emerging view on the roles of butyrate inInfection and immunity · 2025Review
- Advances in Mammalian Metallomics: New Insights into Metal Dynamics and Biological Significance.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Unravelling three-way interactions betweenJournal of medical microbiology · 2025Review
- The exploitation of nutrient metals by bacteria for survival and infection in the gut.PLoS pathogens · 2025Review
- The interplay between host immunity andmBio · 2025Review
- Zinc Glycinate Alleviates Necrotic Enteritis Infection in Broiler Chickens.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- The role of the enteric nervous system in the pathogenesis of Clostridioides difficile infection.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2025Review
- The Impact of Diet on Clostridioides difficile Infection: A Review.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2025Review
- Article
109 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
14 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Clostridium difficile is the most commonly reported nosocomial pathogen in the United States and is an urgent public health concern worldwide. Over the past decade, incidence, severity and costs associated with C. difficile infection (CDI) have increased dramatically. CDI is most commonly initiated by antibiotic-mediated disruption of the gut microbiota; however, non-antibiotic-associated CDI cases are well documented and on the rise. This suggests that unexplored environmental, nutrient and host factors probably influence CDI. Here we show that excess dietary zinc (Zn) substantially alters the gut microbiota and, in turn, reduces the minimum amount of antibiotics needed to confer susceptibility to CDI. In mice colonized with C. difficile, excess dietary Zn severely exacerbated C. difficile-associated disease by increasing toxin activity and altering the host immune response. In addition, we show that the Zn-binding S100 protein calprotectin has antimicrobial effects against C. difficile and is an essential component of the innate immune response to CDI. Taken together, these data suggest that nutrient Zn levels have a key role in determining susceptibility to CDI and severity of disease, and that calprotectin-mediated metal limitation is an important factor in the host immune response to C. difficile.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.