An Approach for More Effective Detection of Clostridium Difficile in Patients

Stool samples from 432 patients with suspected for Clostridium difficile (CD) infection were tested with the novel kit, COMPLETE, which was evaluated for the efficacy in detecting glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), and cultures were then reevaluated to determine necessity.

CD positive samples by culture and GDH positive samples by COMPLETE were 71 (16.4%) and 80 (18.5%) of 432 samples, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of COMPLETE for detection of GDH were 100% and 97.5%, respectively. The toxin types of 71 samples were toxin A+B+ in 45, toxin A-B+ in 21, and toxin A-B- in five. In comparison, the toxin types of 44 samples whose toxin was detected by COMPLETE were toxin A+B+ in 31, and toxin A-B+ in 13. The sensitivity and specificity of COMPLETE for detection of toxin were 66.7% and 100%, respectively.

The combined use of COMPLETE and culture of suspicious CDI samples is beneficial for prompt detection of CD.

Keywords: Clostridium Difficile, Glutamate dehydrogenase, Infection, Stool, Toxin.