Table 1.
Summary of Clostridioides difficile diagnostic tests
|
Test
|
Abbreviation
|
Sensitivity
|
Specificity
|
Turn-around time
|
Target substance
|
| Culture-based | |||||
| Cell cytotoxicity neutralisation assay | CCTN | High | High | < 24 h | Toxins |
| Toxigenic culture | TC | High | Low1 | > 3 d | C. difficile vegetative cells or spores |
| DNA-based | |||||
| Nucleic acid amplification test2 | NAAT | High | Low/moderate | < 4 h | Toxin genes |
| Protein-based | |||||
| Glutamate dehydrogenase | GDH-EIA | High | Low1 | < 2 h | C. difficile antigens |
| Toxin A and B enzyme immunoassays | EIA | Low | Moderate | < 2 h | Toxins |
1
Nucleic acid amplification test, mainly using the PCR technique.
2
Must be combined with a toxin test.
C. difficile: Clostridioides difficile; TC: Toxigenic culture; NAAT: Nucleic acid amplification test; CCTN: Cell cytotoxicity neutralisation assay; GDH: Glutamate dehydrogenase; EIA: Enzyme immunoassay.