Introduction Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is the main cause of antibiotic microflora triggered enteritis. Production of toxin A and B elicit enterocytic inflammation and diarrhea. Hospital outbreaks from certain PCR ribotypes are well known due to excess morbidity and mortality. The toxin production of Clostridioides difficile is an important virulence factor, but it still remains unclear whether this capacity could explain the epidemic success of outbreak isolates. Aim The study aims to determine whether the amount of toxin production correlates to the pathogenicity of multiresistant Clostridoides difficile genotypes. Materials and method Nine strains of Clostridioides difficile were analyzed in regard to their respective toxin production. The epidemic strains have been obtained as part of the routine surveillance program by the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) in Örebro in 2012, 2013 and 2014. This retrospective study was done using a novel ELISA kit for quantitative detection of toxin A and B in solutions. Results The results show that the amount of toxin produced in vitro varies among the different strains. The highest concentrations of toxins were seen in ribotype 046 and 027, both of which are known to have caused outbreaks in Swedish hospitals. Conclusion It seems that the quantity of toxin production in Clostridioides difficile strains correlates well to their respective pathogenic potential. These findings could possibly encourage more research on the role of toxin production in C. difficile infections. The results could inspire investigation of future toxin-binding therapeutic candidates with little effect on the colonic microbiota.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:oru-82981 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Berghamre, Hanna |
| Publisher | Örebro universitet, Institutionen för medicinska vetenskaper |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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