Table 3 Comparison of the features for C. difficile infection among tree shrew, rodents and human
| Â | Â | Tree shrew | Rodents (hamster or mouse) | Human | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Infective dose | 105CFU spores | 105− 109 CFU spores or vegetative | – | 9, 19, 27 | |
Routes of infection | Oral gavage | Oral gavage | Fecal-oral transmission | 9, 19, 27 | |
Antibiotics administration | Antibiotic cocktails | Clindamycin treated; Antibiotic cocktails; Cefoperazone treated | Antibiotics exposure | 9, 17, 18, 19, 27 | |
Disease features | Numbers of infection | 60% (9/15) exhibited signs of disease at 4 days | All hamsters developed diseases; parts of the mouse (58%) showed the clinical signs of CDI at 2 to 4 days | Usually happened in elderly patients or antibiotics usage | 9, 27 |
Symptoms or signs | Diarrhea; weight loss | Wet tail; diarrhea; weight loss | From asymptomatic to severe colitis | 9, 18, 19, 27 | |
Deaths | None | Most died within 48 h for hamster; few death occurred for mouse | Some cases developed to death | 9, 17, 18 | |
Lesion sites | Ileum and colon | Colon and cecum | Colon | 9, 17, 18 | |
Gut microbiota changes | Normal or before infection | Dominated with Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria phylum | Dominated with Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phylum | Dominated with Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes phylum | 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 27 |
Antibiotics treatments | Lower microbial diversity and richness; dominated with Lactobacillus | Lower microbial diversity and richness; dominated with Lactobacillus | Lower microbial diversity and richness; dominated with Lactobacillus | 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 27 | |
After C. difficile infection | Proteobacteria, Clostridiales, Enterobacteriaceae, Lachnospiraceae and Escherichia increased | Proteobacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Verrucomicrobiaceae and Lachnospiraceae increased | Bacteroidetes, Lachnospiraceae, Enterobacteriaceae, and Escherichia increased | 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 27 | |