Development and application of an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay for Clostridium perfringens type A enterotoxin.

Abstract

Confirmation of C perfringens food poisoning depends on the isolation of large numbers (> 106/g) of the organism from faecal specimens and the subsequent demonstration of a common serological type in these and in the incriminated food. The ability of these isolates to produce enterotoxin in vitro may be of importance, but the problems associated with obtaining good sporulation and subsequent enterotoxin production in vitro are well known and make this approach unsuitable.5 An alternative approach is to show the presence of enterotoxin in faeces, and this may be particularly valuable when serological confirmation is not possible.

Faecal carriage ofClostridium perfringens

“…However, Stringer, Watson & Gilbert (1982) reported that enterotoxigenicity in strains other than those associated with food poisoning is uncommon. With the advent of improved techniques for sporulation and the development of a highly sensitive and rapid technique (ELISA) for the detection of enterotoxin (Bartholomew et al 1985) an investigation of the potential for toxin production by normal flora isolates would be worthwhile.…”

“…It is therefore recommended that the investigation of outbreaks in such places should include an extensive epidemiological investigation. More recently, Bartholomew et al (1985) have shown that the detection of C. perfringens enterotoxin in faecal specimens obtained within two days of the onset of symptoms typical of C. perfrinqens food poisoning is a specific and significant finding. It is suggested that where possible the presence of enterotoxin in faeces be considered as an important additional criterion to those previously mentioned.…”

The importance of calcium influx, calpain and calmodulin for the activation of CaCo-2 cell death pathways by Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin

“…Those high CPE dose effects could be transiently blocked by the oncosis inhibitor glycine, but not by caspase 3/7 or caspase 1 inhibitors. As CPE concentrations similar to those inducing apoptosis or oncosis in CaCo-2 cells have been detected in the diarrhoeic feces of people ill with CPE-associated GI disease (Batholomew et al ., 1985;Birkhead et al ., 1988), CPE dose-dependent selection of cell death pathways appears pathophysiologically relevant for understanding CPE action in vivo .…”

Diarréia em leitões lactentes por Clostridium perfringens tipo A em granjas tecnificadas nos estados de Minas Gerais e São Paulo

“…Outra vantagem da PCR em relação aos métodos convencionais é a sua maior sensibilidade e o fato de dispensar o uso de animais para detecção de toxinas, resolvendo problemas bioéticos (Bartholomew et al, 1995;Uzal et al, 1997).…”