First reported case of peritoneal dialysis infection with lactobacillus gasseri: when the body’s friend turns against its host

Summary We report a case of lactobacillus gasseri peritonitis in a patient treated by peritoneal dialysis. Streptococcus anginus and lactobacillus gasseri bacteria are commensal organisms of human oral, small intestinal, colic and vaginal mucous membranes. An infection with streptococcus anginosus during peritoneal dialysis, one responsible for an intra-abdominal abscess, has already been described, this type of streptococcus being widely associated with abscess formation. In contrast, no case of peritoneal infection with lactobacillus gasseri has ever been described. This bacterium is native to the mucous membranes, and colonizes the digestive tract of infants during childbirth, as they pass through the vaginal canal. It has local adaptation capacities, namely tolerance to acid pH, adhesion to the mucous membrane and resistance to bile salts. It is recognized as having an antimicrobial and probiotic function due to its production of bacteriocin, its local immunomodulatory role, its attenuation of the development of helicobacter pylori, its positive effect on the balance of the vaginal flora and its improvement of infectious diarrhea. This usually makes it an ally that contributes to our systemic balance but its irruption in the peritoneum has made it a pathogenic bacterium. The treatment of this peritoneal infection required a classic duration of treatment of organisms of digestive origin, i.e. 3 weeks