title: Presence and molecular characterization of Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens in intestinal compartments of healthy horses.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens are commonly associated with colitis in equids, but healthy carriers exist. Scarce information is available on the prevalence of Clostridium spp. in gastrointestinal compartments other than faeces in healthy horses, and it is unknown whether faecal samples are representative of proximal compartments. The objectives were to investigate the prevalence of C. difficile and C. perfringens in different intestinal compartments of healthy adult horses and to determine whether faecal samples are representative of colonization in proximal sites and overall carrier status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Toxigenic C. difficile was isolated from 14/135 (10.3%) samples from 8/15 (53.3%) horses. Between zero and three sites were positive per horse, and multiple sites were positive in four horses. Isolates were recovered from duodenum, jejunum, ileum, right dorsal colon, small colon and rectum. When multiple compartments were positive in a single horse, two different C. difficile ribotypes were always present. Clostridium perfringens Type A (CPE, β2 toxin gene negative) was recovered from the left ventral colon of one horse (0.74%, 1/135 samples). Agreement between faeces and overall C. difficile carrier status was good.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Clostridium difficile can be found in different compartments of the gastrointestinal tract of healthy horses, and multiple strains can be present in an individual horse. The prevalence of C. perfringens in healthy adult hoses was low, consistent with previous reports. Faecal samples were representative for presence of C. difficile in proximal compartments in 5/8 horses (63%) but were not representative for the specific strain.
authors: Department of Clinical Studies, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada. aschoster@life.ku.dk
authors: Angelika
authors: A
authors: Schoster
authors: Luis Guillermo
authors: LG
authors: Arroyo
authors: Henry Rolf
authors: HR
authors: Staempfli
authors: Patricia Elisabeth
authors: PE
authors: Shewen
authors: Jeffrey Scott
authors: JS
authors: Weese
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002353:Carrier State; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003016:Clostridium perfringens / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006736:Horses / Q000382:microbiology*; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D021521:Ribotyping; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial