title: Infection of hamsters with epidemiologically important strains of Clostridium difficile.
abstract: Five different toxigenic strains of Clostridium difficile of known human epidemiologic importance were tested for virulence in hamsters. Three strains-types B1, J9, and K14-have caused hospital outbreaks. Type Y2 is associated with a high rate of asymptomatic colonization in patients. The fifth strain, type CF2, is a toxin A-negative, toxin B-positive strain implicated in multiple human cases of C. difficile-associated diarrhea. Groups of 10 hamsters per strain were given 1 dose of clindamycin, followed 5 days later with gastric inoculation of 100 cfu of C. difficile. Hamsters given types B1, J9, K14, or Y2 showed 90%-100% colonization (albeit at a slower rate with type Y2) and 100% mortality of colonized animals. Hamsters challenged with type CF2 showed 60% (P= .01) colonization and 30% mortality (P= .0003). The hamster model demonstrated pathogenicity differences between a toxin variant strain and standard toxigenic strains but no significant differences among the standard strains.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Disease Section, Department of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Chicago Health Care System, Lakeside Division, and Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Sambol
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Merrigan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Gerding
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D002981:Clindamycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D006224:Cricetinae; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D008647:Mesocricetus; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D002981:Clindamycin; D004917:Erythromycin