Fecal microbiota transplant for treatment of Clostridium difficile infection in immunocompromised patients.

Objectives: Patients who are immunocompromised (IC) are at increased risk of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), which has increased to epidemic proportions over the past decade. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) appears effective for the treatment of CDI, although there is concern that IC patients may be at increased risk of having adverse events (AEs) related to FMT. This study describes the multicenter experience of FMT in IC patients.

Corticosteroids as potential mechanism regulating variability in reproductive success in monogamous oldfield mice (Peromyscus polionotus).

Male and female mammals undergo profound hormonal changes during pregnancy, some of which are sufficiently dramatic to influence offspring survival. In order to understand the proximate mechanisms regulating the variability in reproductive success within and between individuals, we monitored changes in fecal corticosteroid concentrations over the reproductive cycle in male and female oldfield mice (Peromyscus polionotus subgriseus) to test whether corticosteroid concentrations during pregnancy were associated with offspring survival. In females that successfully raised litters to weaning, fecal corticosteroid concentrations were low until mid-gestation and increased significantly towards term; in females that did not raise their pups to weaning, fecal corticosteroid concentrations were significantly higher at mid-gestation, and remained high until late gestation.