title: Quantitative fecal lactoferrin in toxin-positive and toxin-negative Clostridium difficile specimens.
abstract: Quantitative fecal lactoferrin was measured in 112 patients tested for toxigenic Clostridium difficile using glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) and toxin immunoassays combined with tcdB PCR. Lactoferrin levels were higher in the GDH-positive/toxin-positive group (79 μg/ml) than in the GDH-positive/toxin-negative/PCR-positive (21 μg/ml) and the GDH-negative groups (13 μg/ml). Differences in fecal lactoferrin levels suggest variable presence or severity of C. difficile infection among toxin-positive and toxin-negative patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University, and Clinical Laboratory, West Virginia University Healthcare, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. plasala@hsc.wvu.edu
authors.forename: P Rocco
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: LaSala
authors.forename: Tariq
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ekhmimi
authors.forename: A Kate
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Imran
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Farooqi
authors.forename: Peter L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Perrotta
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry*; D005969:Glutamate Dehydrogenase / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D007781:Lactoferrin / Q000032:analysis*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; C490098:LTF protein, human; C031815:toxB protein, Clostridium difficile; D005969:Glutamate Dehydrogenase; D007781:Lactoferrin