I am a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama. My research focuses on the role of gut microbiota in protection against Clostridioides difficile infection, a severe and recurrent intestinal disease associated with antibiotic treatment.
　I have established a reliable mouse model of CDI and successfully isolated a beneficial gut commensal bacterium with protective activity against CDI. Our preliminary findings demonstrated that administration of this bacterium markedly improves survival and reduces disease severity in CDI mice. Importantly, its protective effect appears to be associated with suppression of C. difficile toxin activity rather than simple bacterial competition.
　The objective of my current research is to identify the specific metabolites produced by this bacterium that are responsible for reducing toxin activity. To achieve this, I aim to combine metabolomic profiling, toxin neutralization assays, and in vivo validation experiments. Through this work, I hope to clarify the molecular mechanism underlying microbiota-mediated protection and contribute to the development of a novel microbiota-based therapeutic strategy for CDI.