title: Serum antibody response to toxins A and B of Clostridium difficile.
abstract: An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of antibodies to toxins A and B of Clostridium difficile was developed. Serum samples from 340 patients were tested for determination of the age-related prevalence of antitoxin. Antibody to toxin A was present in 64% of patients more than two years old and antibody to toxin B in 66% of patients more than six months old. A strongly positive ELISA value correlated with the presence of cytotoxicity-neutralizing antibody (P less than 0.001). Strongly positive ELISA values were obtained more commonly in convalescent sera from 16 patients with C difficile-induced colitis than in sera from the control population (antibody to toxin A, P less than 0.05; antibody to toxin B, P less than 0.001). Testing of paired sera revealed significant increases in the titer of IgG antibody to toxin A or B. Ten of the 16 patients with colitis had IgM titers of greater than or equal to 1:160 to one or both toxins. The data presented suggest that antibodies to toxins A and B are present in the majority of older children and adults and that patients with C difficile-induced disease develop serologic responses to one or both toxins.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002981:Clindamycin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000032:analysis; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008875:Middle Aged; D009500:Neutralization Tests
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D003603:Cytotoxins; D004768:Enterotoxins; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; C041348:tcdA protein, Clostridium difficile; C031815:toxB protein, Clostridium difficile; D002981:Clindamycin