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Riegler, M., Sedivy, R., Sogukoglu, T., Castagliuolo, I., Pothoulakis, C., Cosentini, E., Bischof, G., Hamilton, G., Teleky, B., Feil, W., et al. (1997) Epidermal Growth Factor Attenuates Clostridium difficile Toxin A- and B-Induced Damage of Human Colonic Mucosa. American Journal of Physiology, 273, G1014-G1022.

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Preliminary Investigation on the Effect of Lactobacillus and Epidermal Growth Factor on Tight Junction Proteins in Experimental Clostridium difficile Infection

  AUTHORS: Sukhminderjit Kaur, Chetana Vaishnavi, Pallab Ray, Malkit Singh, Rakesh Kochhar

  KEYWORDS: Antibiotic, C. difficile, Epidermal Growth Factor, Immunosuppressive Drug, Probiotic, Tight Junction Proteins

  JOURNAL NAME: Advances in Microbiology, Vol.4 No.8, June 17, 2014

  ABSTRACT: Clostridium difficile associated disease (CDAD) is the most common hospital acquired infection, due to exposure to various drugs. C. difficile toxins influence barrier function in intestinal epithelium. Biotherapeutic approaches, employing probiotic and epidermal growth factor (EGF) could help in barrier protein protection and aid in CDAD management. A preliminary investigation on the effect of Lactobacillus acidophilus and EGF on tight junction proteins in experimentally induced C. difficile infection was done. BALB/mice were divided into 5 groups. Group 1 was comprised of healthy controls, whereas animals in Groups 2 - 5 were sub-divided into 3 subgroups (a, b and c) each. Animals in Groups 2 - 5 received C. difficile inoculum either on day 1 (Group 2) or after pretreatment with ampicillin (Group 3), cyclosporine (Group 4) or lansoprazole (Group 5). Additionally animals in subgroups “b” and “c” also received L. acidophilus and EGF inocula respectively after C. difficile challenge. All animals were investigated for the presence of tight junction proteins (occludin, α-actinin and zonula occludens) in their colonic segments. Data were analyzed using the SPSS version 10 software. These three proteins were present in significantly less (P L. acidophilus and EGF after challenge with ampicillin, cyclosporine and lansoprazole, suggesting their role in protecting intestinal barrier function.