Comparison of eight commercial enzyme immunoassays for the detection of Clostridium difficile from stool samples and effect of strain type

作者：Rene Pierre^*; Frenette Charles P; Schiller Ian; Dendukuri Nandini; Brassard Paul; Fenn Susan; Loo Vivian G

来源：Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease, 2012, 73(1): 94-96.

DOI：10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2012.01.005

• Clostridium difficile
• Diagnostic assays

We compared the performance of 8 Clostridium difficile enzyme immunoassays to cell cytotoxicity neutralization assay and toxigenic culture. The effect of strain type on assay performance was also examined. There were a total of 71(14.4%) samples in which C. difficile was recovered; 58 (81.7%) of 71 were toxigenic. Compared to a composite reference standard of either C. difficile cytotoxin assay positive or toxigenic C. difficile culture positive, the sensitivities of these assays varied from 31.7% to 55.2%, while the specificities were excellent, ranging from 98.1% to 100%. Among the 57 C. difficile isolates, 30(51.7%) were of the NAP1 genotype. Stool samples positive for the C. difficile NAP1 strain had a higher positivity rate for the toxin assays.

• 出版日期2012-5