Colonization of C. difficile following GI disturbances in mice

Four groups of ten mice were given increasing doses of PEG3350 while being exposed to avirulent C. difficile spores to measure the influence of GI disturbances on colonization susceptibility. The osmotic laxative polyethylene glycol 3350 (PEG3350) was chosen because it is an effective way of inducing diarrhea while minimizing impacts on the mouse, due to its low toxicity and negligible absorption, and minimal impacts on the microbiome because it is not readily metabolized. Mice were single housed in cages with grated bottoms to minimize coprophagy and their feces was sampled daily, starting three days prior to treatment and extending for ten additional days after laxative treatment. By increasing the concentration of laxatives in their drinking water, the number of mice with blooms of C. difficile in their feces, and the magnitude of those blooms, increased.