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Updated: May 17, 2026
A Protein Microarray Assay for Serological Determination of Antigen-specific Antibody Responses Following Clostridium difficile Infection
Published on: June 15, 2018
Association of decreased serum protein fractions with Clostridium difficile infection in the acute care setting: a
Raquel Salazar-Kagunye1, Anish Shah, Gina Loshkajian
1Department of Medicine, St Joseph's Regional Medical Center, Paterson, NJ, USA.
Aim:
This study examines the association of decreased levels of serum proteins with the occurrence of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) in hospitalized patients.
Materials & Methods:
This is a retrospective case-control study using a case cohort (n = 171) that had been described in an earlier study and a cohort of 332 contemporaneous controls.
Results:
Patients with CDAD had significantly lower serum levels of albumin, total protein and globulins, and decreased albumin/globulin ratio (p < 0.0001 for all parameters). After adjustment for confounders, hypoproteinemia was more closely associated with CDAD than either hypoalbuminemia or albumin/globulin ratio. Hypoproteinemia exhibited an odds ratios of 10.6 (95% CI: 6.62-17.0) after adjustment for race, and 11.0 (95% CI: 6.88-17.1) after adjustment for age.
Conclusion:
Decreased total serum protein is more closely associated with CDAD than hypoalbuminemia.
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