TY - JOUR
T1 - Detection of Clostridium difficile toxin A/B genes by multiplex real-time PCR for the diagnosis of C. difficile infection
AU - Kim, Heejung
AU - Jeong, Seok Hoon
AU - Kim, Myungsook
AU - Lee, Yangsoon
AU - Lee, Kyungwon
PY - 2012/2
Y1 - 2012/2
N2 - Toxigenic Clostridium difficile culture is considered to be the standard diagnostic method for the detection of C. difficile infection (CDI). Culture methods are time-consuming and although enzyme immunoassay is rapid and easy to use, it has low sensitivity. In the present study, the AdvanSure CD real-time (RT)-PCR kit (LG Life Sciences) was evaluated for its ability to detect C. difficile toxin A (tcdA) and B (tcdB) genes, simultaneously. A total of 127 fresh diarrhoeal stool specimens, submitted to the clinical microbiology laboratory for C. difficile culture, were tested. C. difficile toxins and toxin genes were detected with a VIDAS C. difficile A&B (VIDAS-CDAB) enzyme-linked fluorescent immunoassay (ELFA) and the AdvanSure RT-PCR kit, respectively, according to the manufacturers' instructions. Their performance was compared with a standard toxigenic culture method as a reference. The sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values using the AdvanSure RT-PCR kit were 100%, 98.3%, 84.6% and 100%, respectively, while those of the VIDAS-CDAB system were 63.6%, 100%, 100% and 96.6%, respectively. Four tcdA +/tcdB + strains of C. difficile were detected with the AdvanSure RT-PCR kit, which offers comparable sensitivity and specificity to the reference method with a turnaround time of ~3 hours.
AB - Toxigenic Clostridium difficile culture is considered to be the standard diagnostic method for the detection of C. difficile infection (CDI). Culture methods are time-consuming and although enzyme immunoassay is rapid and easy to use, it has low sensitivity. In the present study, the AdvanSure CD real-time (RT)-PCR kit (LG Life Sciences) was evaluated for its ability to detect C. difficile toxin A (tcdA) and B (tcdB) genes, simultaneously. A total of 127 fresh diarrhoeal stool specimens, submitted to the clinical microbiology laboratory for C. difficile culture, were tested. C. difficile toxins and toxin genes were detected with a VIDAS C. difficile A&B (VIDAS-CDAB) enzyme-linked fluorescent immunoassay (ELFA) and the AdvanSure RT-PCR kit, respectively, according to the manufacturers' instructions. Their performance was compared with a standard toxigenic culture method as a reference. The sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values using the AdvanSure RT-PCR kit were 100%, 98.3%, 84.6% and 100%, respectively, while those of the VIDAS-CDAB system were 63.6%, 100%, 100% and 96.6%, respectively. Four tcdA +/tcdB + strains of C. difficile were detected with the AdvanSure RT-PCR kit, which offers comparable sensitivity and specificity to the reference method with a turnaround time of ~3 hours.
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U2 - 10.1099/jmm.0.035618-0
DO - 10.1099/jmm.0.035618-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 21959205
AN - SCOPUS:84862928801
VL - 61
SP - 274
EP - 277
JO - Journal of Medical Microbiology
JF - Journal of Medical Microbiology
SN - 0022-2615
IS - 2
ER -