Journal article
Prevalence of binary toxin positive Clostridium difficile in diarrhoeal humans in the absence of epidemic ribotype 027
PLoS ONE, Vol.12(11), e0187658
2017
Abstract
Virulence of Clostridium difficile is primarily attributed to the large clostridial toxins A and B while the role of binary toxin (CDT) remains unclear. The prevalence of human strains of C. difficile possessing only CDT genes (A−B−CDT+) is generally low (< 5%), however, this genotype is commonly found in neonatal livestock both in Australia and elsewhere. Zoonotic transmission of C. difficile has been suggested previously. Most human diagnostic tests will not detect A−B−CDT+ strains of C. difficile because they focus on detection of toxin A and/or B. We performed a prospective investigation into the prevalence and genetic characteristics of A−B−CDT+ C. difficile in symptomatic humans. All glutamate dehydrogenase or toxin B gene positive faecal specimens from symptomatic inpatients over 30 days (n = 43) were cultured by enrichment, and C. difficile PCR ribotypes (RTs) and toxin gene profiles determined. From 39 culture-positive specimens, 43 C. difficile isolates were recovered, including two A−B−CDT+ isolates. This corresponded to an A−B−CDT+ prevalence of 2/35 (5.7%) isolates possessing at least one toxin, 2/10 (20%) A−B− isolates, 2/3 CDT+ isolates and 1/28 (3.6%) presumed true CDI cases. No link to Australian livestock-associated C. difficile was found. Neither A−B−CDT+ isolate was the predominant A−B−CDT+ strain found in Australia, RT 033, nor did they belong to toxinotype XI. Previous reports infrequently describe A−B−CDT+ C. difficile in patients and strain collections but the prevalence of human A−B−CDT+ C. difficile is rarely investigated. This study highlights the occurrence of A−B−CDT+ strains of C. difficile in symptomatic patients, warranting further investigations of its role in human infection.
Details
- Title
- Prevalence of binary toxin positive Clostridium difficile in diarrhoeal humans in the absence of epidemic ribotype 027
- Authors/Creators
- A.M. McGovern (Author/Creator) - The University of Western AustraliaG.O. Androga (Author/Creator) - The University of Western AustraliaD.R. Knight (Author/Creator) - The University of Western AustraliaM.W. Watson (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityB. Elliott (Author/Creator) - Edith Cowan UniversityN.F. Foster (Author/Creator) - Pathwest Laboratory MedicineB.J. Chang (Author/Creator) - The University of Western AustraliaT.V. Riley (Author/Creator) - Edith Cowan University
- Publication Details
- PLoS ONE, Vol.12(11), e0187658
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science
- Identifiers
- 991005544199407891
- Copyright
- © 2017 McGovern et al.
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences; Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Citation topics
- 1 Clinical & Life Sciences
- 1.120 Inflammatory Bowel Diseases & Infections
- 1.120.1133 Clostridium Infections
- Web Of Science research areas
- Microbiology
- ESI research areas
- Microbiology