Rapid diagnosis of toxinogenic Clostridium difficile in faecal samples with internally controlled real-time PCR

R. J. van den Berg, E. J. Kuijper, L. E.S.Bruijnesteijn van Coppenraet, E. C.J. Claas

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Abstract

A real-time PCR assay for Clostridium difficile was developed, based on the tcdB gene, which detected all known toxinogenic reference strains (n = 45), within 30 serogroups and 24 toxinotypes. The analytical sensitivity was 1 × 103 CFU/mL, and the detection limit in faeces was 1 × 105 CFU/g. The optimal protocol for DNA extraction from faecal samples involved use of the Magna-Pure system with a Stool Transport and Recovery (STAR) buffer pre-treatment. In a 1-month prospective study of 85 patients with diarrhoea, the sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values of the assay were 100%, 94%, 55% and 100%, respectively, compared with the standard cell cytotoxicity assay.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)184-186
Number of pages3
JournalClinical Microbiology and Infection
Volume12
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2006

Keywords

  • Assay
  • Clostridium difficile
  • Faecal samples
  • Real-time PCR
  • tcdB gene

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