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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 19, 2026

A Protein Microarray Assay for Serological Determination of Antigen-specific Antibody Responses Following Clostridium difficile Infection

A Protein Microarray Assay for Serological Determination of Antigen-specific Antibody Responses Following Clostridium difficile Infection

Published on: June 15, 2018

Clostridium difficile testing algorithms: what is practical and feasible?

Monica L Schmidt¹, Peter H Gilligan

¹Clinical Microbiology-Immunology Laboratories, University of North Carolina Hospitals, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA.

|October 27, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Diagnosing Clostridium difficile infections is improving with new algorithms. Combining glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) screening with toxin tests offers a faster, more accurate diagnosis for most patients.

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A Protocol to Characterize the Morphological Changes of Clostridium difficile in Response to Antibiotic Treatment

A Protocol to Characterize the Morphological Changes of Clostridium difficile in Response to Antibiotic Treatment

Published on: May 25, 2017

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Last Updated: Jun 19, 2026

A Protein Microarray Assay for Serological Determination of Antigen-specific Antibody Responses Following Clostridium difficile Infection

A Protein Microarray Assay for Serological Determination of Antigen-specific Antibody Responses Following Clostridium difficile Infection

Published on: June 15, 2018

A Protocol to Characterize the Morphological Changes of Clostridium difficile in Response to Antibiotic Treatment

A Protocol to Characterize the Morphological Changes of Clostridium difficile in Response to Antibiotic Treatment

Published on: May 25, 2017

Area of Science:

Clinical microbiology
Infectious disease diagnostics

Background:

Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) are increasing in incidence and severity.
Enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for C. difficile toxins A and B have been standard diagnostic tools.
Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) antigen testing shows higher sensitivity than EIAs for CDI screening.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate a new diagnostic algorithm for Clostridium difficile infections.
To improve the accuracy and speed of CDI laboratory diagnosis.

Main Methods:

Utilized a testing algorithm incorporating rapid immunochromatographic devices for GDH and toxin A/B detection.
Employed cytotoxin neutralization as the reference method for accuracy assessment.
Considered confirmatory tests including cytotoxin neutralization, toxigenic culture, and PCR for toxin genes.

Main Results:

The proposed algorithm accurately identified CDI in approximately 90% of specimens within one hour.
GDH screening demonstrated superior sensitivity compared to toxin EIAs.
A confirmatory test was necessary for the remaining 10% of specimens to ensure diagnostic accuracy.

Conclusions:

A diagnostic algorithm combining GDH and toxin screening offers a rapid and accurate approach to CDI diagnosis.
This strategy enhances laboratory efficiency and patient management for Clostridium difficile infections.
Further confirmatory testing is essential for a small subset of cases to achieve definitive diagnosis.