Using Gut Bacteria To Fight Diarrhea

摘要

Researchers have pinpointed the exact mix of microbes needed to rid mice of a hard-to-treat bacterial pathogen whose spores lead to chronic diarrhea. Antibiotics backfire because they kill the gut's normal microbial community, clearing the way for the pathogen, Clostridium difficile, to resettle. Physicians have restored normal gut microbiota by giving patients fecal material from a healthy person, but the treatment can introduce other undesirable pathogens.