Monoclonal Antibodies Detect Clostridium Difficile Toxins

difficile strains. They are motile spore-producing bacilli, which are capable of causing damage to the intestinal lining by production of two enterotoxins. These enterotoxins, toxin A and toxin B, cause acute diarrhea and colitis. Once thought to be the result of aggressive antibiotic therapy in healthcare settings only, C. difficile is now more frequently occurring in healthy individuals and is considered by many to be an emerging pathogen.

Diagnosis is usually made by detection of C. difficile in stool culture and detection of its toxins in the stool. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) ribotyping is used to identify particular strains, which are responsible for epidemics. In C. difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) toxin-mediated damage occurs to the gut wall. In its milder forms CDAD causes mild to increasing diarrhea (watery or mucoid), abdominal discomfort, nausea, anorexia, malaise, fever. In more severe forms pseudo-membranous colitis and toxic megcolon may develop. Toxin damage to the intestine may cause shock, infection, and intestinal perforation. CDAD can be rapidly fatal in the compromised patient.

ViroStat, Inc. (Portland, ME, USA has released a new set of monoclonal antibodies to each of the two toxins. These high-affinity antibodies will aid scientists who are studying the pathogenesis of this organism. They can also be used for the rapid detection of toxins directly in stool.

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