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Mathematical Modeling of the Effects of Nutrient Competition and Bile Acid Metabolism by the Gut Microbiota on Colonization Resistance Against Clostridium difficile

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Women in Mathematical Biology

Part of the book series: Association for Women in Mathematics Series ((AWMS,volume 8))

Abstract

Clostridium difficile is the leading cause of infectious diarrhea in hospitals and one of the most common healthcare associated infections. Antibiotics alter the normal gut microbiota and facilitate the colonization of enteric pathogens such as C. difficile. Our objective is to elucidate the role of bile acids and other mechanisms in providing colonization resistance against C. difficile. We formulated and analyzed differential equation models for microbial interactions in the gut and bile acid dynamics, as well as a combined model including both mechanisms. Our analysis indicates that bile acids do not prevent C. difficile colonization, but they regulate the onset of C. difficile colonization and growth after antibiotic perturbation. These results have implications in the development of novel ways to inhibit C. difficile infection.

The original version of this chapter was revised. An erratum to this chapter can be found at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60304-9_13

Fleming-Davies, Jabbari, Robertson and Noor Asih contributed equally.

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Acknowledgements

The work was partially funded through the Research Collaborative Workshop for Women in the Mathematical Biology at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, sponsored by the National Science Foundation through NSF Award DBI-1300426, with additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Jabbari thanks the BBSRC and MRC for their support in the form of the grant awards BB/M021386/1 and G1002093. The work of Lanzas and Lenhart was partially supported by the joint NSF/NIGMS Mathematical Biology Program through NIH award R01GM113239. Theriot is funded by Career Development Award in Metabolomics grant K01GM109236 and R35GM119438 from the NIH NIGMS.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Biology, Radford University, Radford, VA, USA

      Arietta Fleming-Davies

    2. School of Mathematics, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

      Sara Jabbari

    3. Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

      Suzanne L. Robertson

    4. Department of Mathematics, Semarang State University, Semarang, Indonesia

      Tri Sri Noor Asih

    5. Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

      Cristina Lanzas & Casey M. Theriot

    6. Department of Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

      Suzanne Lenhart

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    1. Arietta Fleming-Davies
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    Correspondence to Suzanne Lenhart .

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    1. Department of Mathematics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

      Anita T. Layton

    2. Departments of Mathematics and Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

      Laura A. Miller

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    Fleming-Davies, A. et al. (2017). Mathematical Modeling of the Effects of Nutrient Competition and Bile Acid Metabolism by the Gut Microbiota on Colonization Resistance Against Clostridium difficile . In: Layton, A., Miller, L. (eds) Women in Mathematical Biology. Association for Women in Mathematics Series, vol 8. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60304-9_8

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