title: Role of Clostridium difficile in a case of nonantibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis.
abstract: A 57-yr-old woman with chronic diarrhea, mild azotemia, and red cell casts in her urine was found to have pseudomembranous colitis. She had not received antimicrobial agents for at least 2 yr. Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis was found in kidney biopsy, and her renal function improved spontaneously. Pseudomembranous colitis was diagnosed by endoscopic biopsy. Her stool contained a cytophatic toxin that was neutralized by Clostridium sordellii antitoxin, and Clostridium difficile was cultured on selective media. This case indicates that C. difficile may be a cause of nonantibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis, as well as antibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis.
mesh_terms: D003013:Clostridium / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003015:Clostridium Infections; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged