The study showed that increased levels of calcium in the gut, because of certain medications or supplements, triggers Clostridium difficile -- a bacterium that chiefly affects older patients living in nursing homes, or those who have been confined to a hospital environment for a long time. Ever wondered why some people are at higher risk of contracting the life-threatening infection by a dangerous bacterium? It may be the result of excess calcium found in their guts, a finding that may lead to better treatment for the most vulnerable patients, scientists say C.
difficile can recognise this extra calcium, along with a substance called bile salt called taurochlorate produced in the liver, to trigger its awakening and the breaking of its shell. In this study, mouse gut contents that were depleted of gut calcium had a 90 per cent lower rate of C. difficile spore germination, the…
