Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33232301›Full record

ArticleJCI insight2021

Fecal host biomarkers predicting severity of Clostridioides difficile infection.

Makan Golizeh, Kaitlin Winter, Lucie Roussel, Marija Landekic, Mélanie Langelier, Vivian G Loo, Momar Ndao, Donald C Vinh

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JCI insight, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.1field-weighted citation impact, top 44% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Biomarkers for Early Severity Prediction inMedicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026
    Review
  2. Article
  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Makan GolizehInfectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Kaitlin WinterInfectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Lucie RousselInfectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Marija LandekicInfectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Mélanie LangelierInfectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Vivian G LooInfectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Momar NdaoInfectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Donald C VinhInfectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), Montréal, Québec, Canada.
McGill University Health Centre · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Clostridioides difficile is a major cause of health care-associated diarrhea. Severity ranges from mild to life-threatening, but this variability remains poorly understood. Microbiologic diagnosis of C. difficile infection (CDI) is straightforward but offers little insight into the patient's prognosis or into pathophysiologic determinants of clinical trajectory. The aim of this study was to discover host-derived, CDI-specific fecal biomarkers involved in disease severity. Subjects without and with CDI diarrhea were recruited. CDI severity was based on Infectious Diseases Society of America/Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America criteria. We developed a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry approach to identify host-derived protein biomarkers from stool and applied it to diagnostic samples for cohort-wise comparison (CDI-negative vs. nonsevere CDI vs. severe CDI). Selected biomarkers were orthogonally confirmed and subsequently verified in a CDI mouse model. We identified a protein signature from stool, consisting of alpha-2-macroglobulin (A2MG), matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7), and alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT), that not only discriminates CDI-positive samples from non-CDI ones but also is potentially associated with disease severity. In the mouse model, this signature with the murine homologs of the corresponding proteins was also identified. A2MG, MMP-7, and A1AT serve as biomarkers in patients with CDI and define novel components of the host response that may determine disease severity.

Indexed as

Agedalpha 1-AntitrypsinAnimalsBiomarkersCase-Control StudiesClostridioides difficileClostridium InfectionsCohort StudiesDisease Models, AnimalFecesFemaleHumansMaleMatrix Metalloproteinase 7MiceMice, Inbred C57BLalpha 1-AntitrypsinBiomarkersMatrix Metalloproteinase 7MMP7 protein, humanPregnancy-Associated alpha 2-MacroglobulinsSERPINA1 protein, humanBacterial infectionsInfectious diseaseInflammationProteomics

Identifiers

PMID33232301
PMCPMC7821589
OpenAlexW3107414072

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.