In vitro susceptibility of Clostridium difficile isolates from patients with antibiotic-associated diarrhea or colitis.
In vitro susceptibility tests were performed on 84 strains of Clostridium difficile to 11 antimicrobial agents. All isolates were from the stools of patients with antibiotic-associated diarrhea or colitis in which there was a cytopathic toxin that was neutralized by Clostridium sordellii antitoxin. Over 95% of the strains were susceptible to vancomycin, penicillin G, ampicillin, and metronidazole at concentrations of 4 microgram/ml. Susceptibility to clindamycin was variable; 60% of the strains were susceptible at 1 microgram/ml, and 9% were resistant at 128 microgram/ml. Studies of individual isolates showed that a major portion of the strains were relatively susceptible to the antimicrobial agent implicated in causing the disease.
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003013:Clostridium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003092:Colitis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000382:microbiology*; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000382:microbiology*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D003603:Cytotoxins