Background

Clostridium difficile infection is the leading cause of hospital-acquired gastrointestinal infection and incidence rates continue to rise. Clostridium difficile infection is becoming increasingly complex to treat owing to the rise in treatment failures and recurrent infections. There is a clear need for new therapeutic options for the management of this disease.

Objective

This study aimed to assess auranofin, a drug approved for the treatment of arthritis, as a treatment for C. difficile infection. Previous investigations have demonstrated potential antimicrobial activity of auranofin against C. difficile and other organisms.

Methods

The activity of auranofin was assessed by in vitro investigations of its effect on C. difficile M7404 growth, vegetative cell viability, and spore viability. Activity of auranofin was also compared to that of the current treatments, metronidazole and vancomycin.

Results

Auranofin showed bactericidal activity at concentrations as low as 4.07 µg/mL, effectively reducing bacterial cell density by 50–70% and the viable vegetative cell and spore yields by 100%. The activity of auranofin was shown to be non-inferior to that of metronidazole and vancomycin.

Conclusions

Auranofin is highly efficacious against C. difficile M7404 in vitro and has the potential to be an ideal therapeutic option for the treatment of C. difficile infection.

中文翻译：

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金诺芬的体外研究作为艰难梭菌感染的治疗方法。

背景

艰难梭菌感染是医院获得性胃肠道感染的主要原因，发病率持续上升。由于治疗失败和反复感染的增加，艰难梭菌感染的治疗变得越来越复杂。显然需要用于治疗该疾病的新的治疗选择。

目的

这项研究旨在评估金诺芬（一种批准用于治疗关节炎的药物）作为艰难梭菌感染的治疗方法。先前的研究表明金诺芬对艰难梭菌和其他生物具有潜在的抗菌活性。

方法

金诺芬的活性通过体外研究对艰难梭菌M7404生长，营养细胞活力和孢子活力的影响进行评估。还比较了金诺芬的活性与目前治疗甲硝唑和万古霉素的活性。

结果

Auranofin在低至4.07 µg / mL的浓度下显示出杀菌活性，有效降低了50-70％的细菌细胞密度，并使活力的营养细胞和孢子产量降低了100％。已显示金诺芬的活性不逊于甲硝唑和万古霉素。

结论

金诺芬在体外对艰难梭菌M7404具有很高的效力，并且有可能成为治疗艰难梭菌感染的理想治疗选择。