title: Enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) for detection of Clostridium difficile toxin B in specimens of faeces.
abstract: Antisera against Clostridium difficile toxin B were prepared in sheep and rabbit and were used in indirect and sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for the detection of toxin B. Polyvinyl chloride and polystyrene microtitration plates were tested as solid phases for the assay. Both assays had a lower limit of detection for toxin B of 1 ng/ml. They were used to detect the presence of toxin B in 210 human faecal specimens and also in the culture supernatant fluids of C. difficile strains isolated from the faecal samples. There was a close correlation between the results of sandwich ELISA and those of cytotoxicity tests and isolation of C. difficile. Our sandwich ELISA method seems to be useful as a presumptive test for detection of C. difficile toxin B.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Toxinologie Bactérienne, Faculté de Médecine, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rihn
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Heckel
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bisseret
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Girardot
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Monteil
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000032:analysis*; D003013:Clostridium / Q000032:analysis*; D003470:Culture Media / Q000032:analysis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D005243:Feces / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D009500:Neutralization Tests
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D003470:Culture Media; C031815:toxB protein, Clostridium difficile