Prevalence, Antimicrobial Resistance and Toxin-Encoding Genes of Clostridioides difficile from Environmental Sources...

Area of Science:

• Environmental microbiology
• Bacterial pathogenesis
• Antimicrobial resistance

Background:

• Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is a leading cause of antibiotic-associated intestinal disease.
• C. difficile can persist in diverse environmental settings beyond healthcare facilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence and characteristics of C. difficile in environmental samples.
• To analyze toxin gene profiles and antimicrobial resistance patterns of environmental C. difficile isolates.

Main Methods:

• Selective enrichment and TaqMan-based qPCR were used to detect C. difficile in environmental samples.
• 169 C. difficile isolates were recovered and analyzed for toxin genes (tcdA, tcdB, cdtA, cdtB) and antimicrobial susceptibility.

Main Results:

• C. difficile was detected in 39.50% of samples by enrichment and 55.56% by qPCR.
• Most isolates (88.75%) carried toxin genes tcdA and tcdB; 43.78% carried binary toxins.
• High resistance rates were observed for ciprofloxacin (66.86%) and clindamycin (46.15%).

Conclusions:

• Environmental C. difficile strains are frequently toxigenic and harbor antimicrobial resistance genes.
• Fecal contamination of environmental sources contributes to C. difficile presence.
• Environmental C. difficile poses a potential risk for community-associated infections.