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Updated: Jan 23, 2026

Development of a Larval Zebrafish Infection Model for Clostridioides difficile
Published on: February 14, 2020
Laboratory-developed test for detection of acute Clostridium difficile infections with the capacity for quantitative
Ivan Brukner1, Shaun Eintracht2, Vincenzo Forgetta3
1Department of Medical Microbiology, Jewish General Hospital, Quebec, Canada; Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Quebec, Canada; McGill University, Faculty of Medicine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Abstract:
We describe a laboratory-developed test intended for the detection of acute Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) with the capacity for quantitative sample normalization. The test is based on the detection of the tcdB gene. However, this biomarker is also present among people without symptoms, implying that individuals with diarrhea, not caused by C. difficile may nonetheless test positive. Therefore, clinical diagnosis based on this format of testing can be challenging. In order to improve diagnostic assays capability, tcdB-based quantification methods were suggested as a potential solution, however they did not increase clinical specificity. We report methodology for a dual biomarker monitoring (total bacterial load and tcdB assay), allowing for the calculation of the relative presence of tcdB in the total bacterial population in the tested samples. We believe that this approach is clinically relevant to current assays and can improve CDI testing algorithms.
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