We evaluated the performances of 2 PCR assays (BD GeneOhm and Seegene ACE) for direct detection of tcdB from stool specimens. The concordance rate between BD and Seegene was 96.3%. The sensitivities, specificities, positive predictive values (PPVs), and negative predictive values (NPVs) of BD and Seegene were 95.7%, 96.5%, 91.8%, and 98.2% and 90.0%, 97.1%, 92.6%, and 96.0%, respectively.

Little is known about Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in Asia generally, and specifically in Thailand. Given the high prevalence of inappropriate antibiotic usage in this region, CDI is likely to be common. This study investigated the prevalence and molecular epidemiology of CDI in Thailand. Stool specimens collected from inpatients with diarrhoea at Siriraj hospital in Bangkok (n = 422) ...

Host anti-toxin immune responses play important roles in Clostridium difficile disease and outcome. The relationship between host immune and inflammatory responses during severe C. difficile infection (CDI) and the risk of mortality has yet to be defined. We aimed to investigate the host systemic IgG anti-toxin immune responses, the in vitro cytotoxicity of the infecting C. difficile ribotyped ...

BACKGROUND Clostridium difficile has been shown to be a nosocomial pathogen associated with diarrhoea and pseudomembranous colitis in hospitalised patients and the infection is believed to be acquired nosocomially. Recent studies have shown the occurrence of C. difficile in food animals which may act as a source of infection to humans.The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of C. ...

A toxin variant strain of Clostridium difficile was isolated from two patients with C. difficile-associated disease (CDAD), one of whom died from extensive pseudomembranous colitis. This strain, identified by restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) as type CF2, was not detected by an immunoassay for C. difficile toxin A. Culture supernatants of CF2 failed to elicit significant enterotoxic activ...

Clostridium difficile produces two toxins, A and B, which act together to cause pseudomembraneous colitis. The genes encoding these toxins, tcdA and tcdB, are part of the pathogenicity locus, which also includes tcdC, a putative negative regulator of the toxin genes. In this study, we demonstrate that TcdC is a membrane-associated protein in C. difficile.

The pathogenicity of Clostridium difficile is primarily linked to secretion of the intracellular acting toxins A (TcdA) and B (TcdB) which monoglucosylate and thereby inactivate Rho GTPases of host cells. Although the molecular mode of action of TcdA and TcdB is well understood, far less is known about toxin binding and uptake. It is acknowledged that the C-terminally combined repetitive oligop...