Ryan Hatoum/UCLA Health
Hon Wai Koon and colleagues found that an experimental drug called CSA13 helped boost the levels of four protective metabolites.
FINDINGS A team of UCLA researchers found that a metabolite therapy was effective in mice for treating a serious infection of the colon known as Clostridium difficile infection, or C. difficile. Mice that were infected with C. difficile were treated with an experimental drug called CSA13, which increased levels of four protective metabolites — molecules that help fuel, maintain and mediate cells. Compared with mice that did not receive CSA13, the mice treated with the drug were significantly more likely to survive the infection, had lower rates of weight loss and — after the treatment was stopped — were less likely to have a relapse of the infection. BACKGROUND. C. difficile is a potentially life-threatening intestinal infection that causes severe diarrhea, abdominal pain and other symptoms. Nearly 500,000 people in the U.S. — primarily older adults in hospitals or long-term care facilities — become sick from C. difficile each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Treating C. difficile is complicated; the infection is often referred to as a "superbug" because today's therapies are not very effective.
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