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Relationship between faecal metronidazole and lactoferrin concentrations to clinical response of patients with
Maria Saunders1, Jinny Jeffery2, Zoe Vincent2
1Department of Gastroenterology, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, PL6 8DH, UK.
Objectives:
We investigated patients with Clostridioides difficile-associated diarrhoea to see if clinical resolution correlated with faecal concentrations of metronidazole or markers of inflammation.
Methods:
Faecal metronidazole, lactoferrin and serum CRP were measured daily. These were then compared with clinical progress.
Results:
Metronidazole concentration correlated with lactoferrin (ρ = 0.17, p = 0.015), CRP (ρ = 0.23, p < 0.001) and number of diarrhoeal stools per day (ρ = 0.29, p < 0.001). Lactoferrin correlated with CRP (ρ = 0.57, p < 0.001) and the number of diarrhoeal stools per day (ρ = 0.52, p < 0.001) as did CRP (ρ = 0.52, p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
We found no association between cessation of diarrhoea and metronidazole or lactoferrin concentrations. There was a relationship between metronidazole concentrations and markers of inflammation and stool frequency.
