ReviewPLoS pathogens2021
A short chain fatty acid-centric view of Clostridioides difficile pathogenesis.
Review in PLoS pathogens, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 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
43 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- The gut microbiota-obesity axis in the pathogenesis and prognosis of breast cancer.Annals of medicine · 2026Pooled it
- The impact of an oral purified microbiome therapeutic on the gastrointestinal microbiome.Nature medicine · 2026Trial
- Comparability of Gastrointestinal Microbiome and Bile Acid Profiles in Patients With First or Multiply Recurrent Clostridioides difficile Infection.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2025Trial
- Gut microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs): immunomodulatory effects and therapeutic potential in infections.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2026Review
- The Nexus of Gut Microbiome, Microbial Metabolites, and Colonization Resistance Against Enteric Pathogens.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Probiotics as modulators of the gut-derived incretin peptide axis in type 2 diabetes: GLP-1, GLP-2, and microbial metabolite signaling.Protoplasma · 2026Review
- EndD mediates butyrate-dependent toxin release inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Acidification-dependent suppression ofInfection and immunity · 2026Article
- Article
- Acidification-dependent suppression ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The critical role ofApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- A genomic atlas of gut clostridia: phylogeny, butyrate, and propionate production.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Non-targeted metabolomics reveals metabolic signatures associated withFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Article
- Integrative multi-omics characterization of the gut microbiome in Pila globosa: functional insights into nutrient cycling and detoxification potential.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2025Article
- The emerging view on the roles of butyrate inInfection and immunity · 2025Review
- Gut Dysbiosis Driven byGenes · 2025Review
- Article
- Impact of Alginate Oligosaccharides on Ovarian Performance and the Gut Microbial Community in Mice with D-Galactose-Induced Premature Ovarian Insufficiency.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Effects of Short-Chain Fatty Acid Combinations Relevant to the Healthy and Dysbiotic Gut upon Candida albicans.Current microbiology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile is an opportunistic diarrheal pathogen responsible for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. A disrupted (dysbiotic) gut microbiome, commonly engendered by antibiotic treatment, is the primary risk factor for C. difficile infection, highlighting that C. difficile-microbiome interactions are critical for determining the fitness of this pathogen. Here, we review short chain fatty acids (SCFAs): a major class of metabolites present in the gut, their production by the gut microbiome, and their impacts on the biology of the host and of C. difficile. We use these observations to illustrate a conceptual model whereby C. difficile senses and responds to SCFAs as a marker of a healthy gut and tunes its virulence accordingly in order to maintain dysbiosis. Future work to learn the molecular mechanisms and genetic circuitry underlying the relationships between C. difficile and SCFAs will help to identify precision approaches, distinct from antibiotics and fecal transplant, for mitigating disease caused by C. difficile and will inform similar investigations into other gastrointestinal pathogens.
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.