Abstract
Three gas chromatography (GC) methods were compared for the identification of 52 clinical Clostridium difficile isolates, as well as 17 non-C. difficile Clostridium isolates. Headspace GC and Microbial Identification System (MIS) GC, an automated system which utilizes a software library developed at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute to identify organisms based on the fatty acids extracted from the bacterial cell wall, were compared against the reference method of traditional GC. Headspace GC and MIS were of approximately equivalent accuracy in identifying the 52 C. difficile isolates (52 of 52 versus 51 of 52, respectively). However, 7 of 52 organisms required repeated sample preparation before an identification was achieved by the MIS method. Both systems effectively differentiated C. difficile from non-C. difficile clostridia, although the MIS method correctly identified only 9 of 17. We conclude that the headspace GC system is an accurate method of C. difficile identification, which requires only one-fifth of the sample preparation time of MIS GC and one-half of the sample preparation time of traditional GC.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bartlett J. G., Chang T. W., Gurwith M., Gorbach S. L., Onderdonk A. B. Antibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis due to toxin-producing clostridia. N Engl J Med. 1978 Mar 9;298(10):531–534. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197803092981003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bartlett J. G., Onderdonk A. B., Cisneros R. L., Kasper D. L. Clindamycin-associated colitis due to a toxin-producing species of Clostridium in hamsters. J Infect Dis. 1977 Nov;136(5):701–705. doi: 10.1093/infdis/136.5.701. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Berg J. D., Mills R. G., Coleman D. J. Improved gas-liquid chromatography method for the identification of Clostridium difficile. J Clin Pathol. 1985 Jan;38(1):108–110. doi: 10.1136/jcp.38.1.108. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Burdon D. W., George R. H., Mogg G. A., Arabi Y., Thompson H., Johnson M., Alexander-Williams J., Keighley M. R. Faecal toxin and severity of antibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis. J Clin Pathol. 1981 May;34(5):548–551. doi: 10.1136/jcp.34.5.548. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Larsson L., Holst E. Feasibility of automated head-space gas chromatography in identification of anaerobic bacteria. Acta Pathol Microbiol Immunol Scand B. 1982 Apr;90(2):125–130. doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1982.tb00093.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Larsson L., Holst E., Gemmell C. G., Mårdh P. A. Characterization of Clostridium difficile and its differentiation from Clostridium sporogenes by automatic head-space gas chromatography. Scand J Infect Dis Suppl. 1980;(Suppl 22):37–40. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Larsson L., Märdh P. A., Odham G. Detection of alcohols and volatile fatty acids by head-space gas chromatography in identification of anaerobic bacteria. J Clin Microbiol. 1978 Jan;7(1):23–27. doi: 10.1128/jcm.7.1.23-27.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mårdh P. A., Larsson L., Odham G. Head-space gas chromatography as a tool in the identification of anaerobic bacteria and diagnosis of anaerobic infections. Scand J Infect Dis Suppl. 1981;26:14–18. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rizzo A. F. Rapid gas-chromatographic method for identification of metabolic products of anaerobic bacteria. J Clin Microbiol. 1980 Apr;11(4):418–421. doi: 10.1128/jcm.11.4.418-421.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sullivan N. M., Mayhew J., DiTullio D., Tally F. P. Argon detector: alternative detection system for gas-liquid chromatographic analysis of short-chain organic acids. J Clin Microbiol. 1978 Oct;8(4):369–373. doi: 10.1128/jcm.8.4.369-373.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Thomann W. R., Hill G. B. Modified extraction procedure for gas-liquid chromatography applied to the identification of anaerobic bacteria. J Clin Microbiol. 1986 Feb;23(2):392–394. doi: 10.1128/jcm.23.2.392-394.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wiggins R. J., Wilks M., Tabaqchali S. Analysis by gas liquid chromatography of production of volatile fatty acids by anaerobic bacteria grown on solid medium. J Clin Pathol. 1985 Aug;38(8):933–936. doi: 10.1136/jcp.38.8.933. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]