title: Laboratory diagnosis of Clostridium perfringens antibiotic-associated diarrhoea.
abstract: Clostridium perfringens has been reported as the cause of up to 15% of cases of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea (AAD) and may be diagnosed by detection of enterotoxin (CPEnt) in faeces. The performance of a commercial ELISA method for CPEnt, with culture and PCR methods to confirm the presence of enterotoxigenic C. perfringens, was evaluated in 200 consecutive specimens from patients with clinical details suggestive of AAD: 8% of the specimens were positive for CPEnt, 16% were positive for C. difficile cytotoxin and 2% gave positive test results for both C. perfringens and C. difficile toxins. Culture and PCR results confirmed the majority of ELISA results, although 2 (12.5%) reactive specimens were only weakly positive. C. perfringens is a potentially important cause of infective AAD and can be detected with the C. perfringens enterotoxin ELISA kit, although weak positive results should be considered with caution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Leeds General Infirmary and University of Leeds, Leeds LS1 3EX.
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Asha
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Leeds General Infirmary and University of Leeds, Leeds LS1 3EX.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Wilcox
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D003016:Clostridium perfringens / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000032:analysis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014709:Vero Cells
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004768:Enterotoxins; C035598:enterotoxin, Clostridium