title: Antimicrobial susceptibility of animal and human isolates of Clostridium difficile by broth microdilution.
abstract: A total of 188 human (n = 92) and animal (n = 96) isolates of Clostridium difficile of different PCR ribotypes were screened for susceptibility to 30 antimicrobials using broth microdilution. When comparing the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance, the isolates of animal origin were significantly more often resistant to oxacillin, gentamicin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (P<0.01). The most significant difference between the animal and human populations (P = 0.0006) was found in the level of imipenem resistance, with a prevalence of 53.3 % in isolates of human origin and 28.1 % in isolates of animal origin. Overall, the results show similar MICs for the majority of tested antimicrobials for isolates from human and animal sources, which were collected from the same geographical region and in the same time interval. This supports the hypothesis that C. difficile could be transmissible between human and animal hosts. Resistant isolates have been found in all animal species tested, including food and companion animals, and also among non-toxigenic isolates. The isolates of the most prevalent PCR ribotype 014/020 had low resistance rates for moxifloxacin, erythromycin, rifampicin and daptomycin, but a high resistance rate for imipenem. Multiresistant strains were found in animals and humans, belonging to PCR ribotypes 012, 017, 027, 045, 046, 078 and 150, and also to non-toxigenic strains of PCR ribotypes 010 and SLO 080.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pirš
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Avberšek
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zdovc
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Brane
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Krt
authors.affiliation: Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Alenka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andlovic
authors.affiliation: University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lejko-Zupanc
authors.affiliation: Centre of Excellence for Integrated Approaches in Chemistry and Biology of Proteins, Ljubljana, Slovenia.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.|Institute of Public Health Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Maja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rupnik
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Matjaž
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ocepek
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D017576:Daptomycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D015378:Imipenem / Q000494:pharmacology; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods; D010068:Oxacillin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D015378:Imipenem; D017576:Daptomycin; D010068:Oxacillin