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Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: Pecos_Bill on 09/11/2012 22:12:15

Title: Treat C. Dificile with phagocytes?
Post by: Pecos_Bill on 09/11/2012 22:12:15
While teaching in Tomsk, I got bodacious gastroenteritis. (Don't eat the sausage from the street vendors. Go with Shashlik). The doc treated me with a couple of vials ~200 ml. Of culture media containing a filtrate of phagocytes which attack every intestinal pathogen I ever heard of. It worked.

Would it work to treat C. Dificile? Sounds better than a poop pill to recolonize intestinal flora.

PS: It was the best tasting culture media I ever drank. I suggest a coca-cola chaser.
Title: Re: Treat C. Dificile with phagocytes?
Post by: RD on 09/11/2012 22:24:38
People have tried recolonizing* gastrointestinal flora as a treatment for C-difficile, but the treatment has to go in the other end (enema) ...   

Quote
Fecal (faecal) microbiota transplantation (FMT) also known as a stool transplant is the process of transplantation of fecal bacteria from a healthy individual into a recipient as a treatment for patients suffering from Clostridium difficile infection (CDI),
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_bacteriotherapy

[ * on this occasion pronounced re-colon-izing  [:)] ]


... The doc treated me with a couple of vials ~200 ml. Of culture media containing a filtrate of phagocytes which attack every intestinal pathogen I ever heard of. It worked.

People do recover from gastroenteritis without treatment, so your recovery was not necessarily due to the unorthodox treatment.  [ are you sure "doc" was a real doctor of medicine ?, your story reminded me of stem-cell scams ... http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18560_162-6402854.html ]
Title: Re: Treat C. Dificile with phagocytes?
Post by: CliffordK on 09/11/2012 22:58:10
Phagocytes? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phagocyte)

What exactly did you eat?
Phagocytes would essentially be white blood cells & macrophages.  From Humans?  From animals?

It sounds like an odd treatment.  Getting the white blood cells where they are not normally at. 
Would they survive the stomach?  The Coca Cola?
Title: Re: Treat C. Dificile with phagocytes?
Post by: Pecos_Bill on 10/11/2012 01:21:39
Rats. I meant to sat bacteriophages instead of phagocytes
Title: Re: Treat C. Dificile with phagocytes?
Post by: CliffordK on 10/11/2012 01:34:05
Bacterial Viruses? 

Interesting.

I would think that one could be highly selective with the targeted bacteria.  At least with the right phages.

Keep in mind that a portion of the population is naturally colonized with Clostridium difficile.  So, the presence of the bacteria is not always pathogenic, although perhaps certain overgrowth conditions would be problematic.

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