Objectives. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical application of three methods for detecting Clostridium difficile in fecal samples. Methods. One hundred and fifty fecal specimens were collected and tested for C. difficile using three methods: (1) the toxigenic culture (TC); (2) the VIDAS enzyme immunoassay (EIA): the VIDAS glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) assay and toxin A/B assay were used to detect GDH antigen and A/B toxin; and (3) the GeneXpert PCR assay. The toxigenic culture was used as a reference to evaluate the performance of the VIDAS EIA and the GeneXpert PCR assay. Results. Of 150 specimens, 26 carried both A and B toxin genes, and none of the samples were positive for the binary toxin gene. Toxin-producing C. difficile was found in 17.3% (26/150) of the samples. Thirty-seven GDH-positive samples were detected using the VIDAS GDH assay, and 15 toxin-positive samples were detected using the VIDAS toxin A/B assay. The GeneXpert PCR assay was used to detect C. difficile in 79 specimens simultaneously, and a total of 18 positive specimens were detected. Conclusion. The VIDAS GDH assay is useful for initial screening of C. difficile. The GeneXpert PCR assay is a simple and quick method.

中文翻译：

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腹泻患者艰难梭菌临床检测方法的比较研究。

目标。本研究的目的是评估三种检测粪便样品中艰难梭菌的方法的临床应用。方法。收集了 150 份粪便样本并使用三种方法检测艰难梭菌：（1）产毒培养（TC）；(2)VIDAS酶免疫法(EIA)：采用VIDAS谷氨酸脱氢酶(GDH)法和毒素A/B法检测GDH抗原和A/B毒素；(3) GeneXpert PCR检测。产毒培养物用作评估 VIDAS EIA 和 GeneXpert PCR 测定性能的参考。结果. 在 150 份样本中，26 份同时携带 A 和 B 毒素基因，并且没有样本对二元毒素基因呈阳性。在 17.3% (26/150) 的样本中发现了产生毒素的艰难梭菌。使用 VIDAS GDH 测定法检测到 37 个 GDH 阳性样品，使用 VIDAS 毒素 A/B 测定法检测到 15 个毒素阳性样品。采用GeneXpert PCR法同时检测79份标本中的艰难梭菌，共检出18份阳性标本。结论。VIDAS GDH 检测可用于初步筛选艰难梭菌。GeneXpert PCR 检测是一种简单快捷的方法。