Laboratory diagnosis of Clostridium perfringens antibiotic-associated diarrhoea

ABSTRACT: Despite the known importance of Clostridium perfringens as an enteropathogen in small ruminants, little is known about the role of its additional virulence factors or the frequency of the various C. perfringens genotypes in healthy goats; this complicates the laboratory diagnosis of the infections caused by this microorganism. In light of this, the aim of the present study was to isolate and genotype C. perfringens from stool samples from healthy goats in Brazil. Stool samples from 250 apparently healthy adult goats from 17 different herds in Minas Gerais, Brazil were collected, and isolation and genotyping of C. perfringens was performed. C. perfringens type A was isolated from 189 (75.6%) goats, whereas C. perfringens types C and D were each detected in one goat (0.4%). All isolates were negative for enterotoxin-, NetB-, NetE-, and NetF-encoding genes. These results confirmed C. perfringens type A as part of the microbiota in these animals, and they suggested that C. perfringens type C and D are rarely isolated from healthy goats.

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ENTEROTOXIGENIC CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS: A POSSIBLE CAUSE OF ANTIBIOTIC-ASSOCIATED DIARRHOEA

The Lancet ◽

10.1016/s0140-6736(84)90359-3 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 323 (8372) ◽

pp. 305-307 ◽

Cited By ~ 82

Author(s):

S.P. Borriello ◽

A.R. Welch ◽

H.E. Larson ◽

Fiona Barclay ◽

M.F. Stringer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clostridium Perfringens ◽

Possible Cause ◽

Antibiotic Associated Diarrhoea

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Isolates of Clostridium perfringens recovered from Costa Rican patients with antibiotic-associated diarrhoea are mostly enterotoxin-negative and susceptible to first-choice antimicrobials

Journal of Medical Microbiology ◽

10.1099/jmm.0.47505-0 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 57 (3) ◽

pp. 343-347 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Natassia Camacho ◽

Carlos Espinoza ◽

César Rodríguez ◽

Evelyn Rodríguez

Keyword(s):

Clostridium Perfringens ◽

Sampling Period ◽

Costa Rican ◽

Dilution Method ◽

Agar Dilution Method ◽

First Choice ◽

Low Incidence ◽

Pcr Targeting ◽

Antibiotic Associated Diarrhoea

To assess the prevalence of enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens among adults suffering from antibiotic-associated diarrhoea in a Costa Rican hospital, faecal samples were analysed from 104 patients by a cultivation approach. The 29 strains obtained, which accounted for an isolation frequency of 28 %, were genotyped and investigated with regard to their in vitro susceptibility to penicillin, imipenem, cefotaxime, chloramphenicol and metronidazole using an agar-dilution method. A multiplex PCR for detection of the toxins α, β and ϵ predictably classified all faecal isolates as biotype A. An agglutination assay revealed that only one isolate synthesized detectable amounts of enterotoxin (detection rate 3 %). This result was confirmed by a PCR targeting the cpe gene. The spores of the only CPE+ isolate did not germinate after incubation for 30 min at temperatures above 80 °C. Most isolates were susceptible to first-choice antimicrobials. However, unusual MICs for penicillin (16 μg ml−1) and metronidazole (512 μg ml−1) were detected in one and three isolates, respectively. The low incidence of enterotoxigenic strains suggests that C. perfringens was not a major primary cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea in this hospital during the sampling period.

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