Rifaximin disc diffusion test for in vitro susceptibility testing of Clostridium difficile.

Rifaximin is a rifampicin derivative, poorly absorbed by the gastro-intestinal tract. We studied the in vitro susceptibility to rifamixin of 1082 Clostridium difficile isolates; among these, 184 isolates from a strain collection were tested by an in-house rifaximin disc (40 µg) diffusion test, by an in-house rifaximin broth microdilution test, by rifampicin Etest and by rpoB gene sequencing. In the absence of respective CLSI or EUCAST MIC breakpoints for rifaximin and rifampicin against C. difficile we chose MIC ≥32 µg ml(-1) as criterion for reduced in vitro susceptibility. To further validate the disc diffusion test 898 consecutive clinical isolates were analysed using the disc diffusion test, the Etest and rpoB gene sequence analysis for all resistant strains. Rifaximin broth microdilution tests of the 184 reference strains yielded rifaximin MICs ranging from 0.001 (n = 1) to ≥1024 µg ml(-1) (n = 61); 62 isolates showed a reduced susceptibility (MIC ≥32 µg ml(-1)). All of these 62 strains showed rpoB gene mutations producing amino acid substitutions; the rifampicin- and rifaximin-susceptible strains showed either a wild-type sequence or silent amino acid substitutions (19 strains). For 11 arbitrarily chosen isolates with rifaximin MICs of >1024 µg ml(-1), rifaximin end-point MICs were determined by broth dilution: 4096 µg ml(-1) (n = 2), 8192 µg ml(-1) (n = 6), 16,384 µg ml(-1) (n = 2) and 32,678 µg ml(-1) (n = 1). Rifampicin Etests on the 184 C. difficile reference strains yielded MICs ranging from ≤0.002 (n = 117) to ≥32 µg ml(-1) (n = 59). Using a 38 mm inhibition zone as breakpoint for reduced susceptibility the use of rifaximin disc diffusion yielded 59 results correlating with those obtained by use of rifaximin broth microdilution in 98.4 % of the 184 strains tested. Rifampicin Etests performed on the 898 clinical isolates revealed that 67 isolates had MICs of ≥32 µg ml(-1). There were no discordant results observed among these isolates with reduced susceptibility using an MIC of ≥32 µg ml(-1) as breakpoint for reduced rifampicin susceptibility and a <38 mm inhibition zone as breakpoint for reduced rifaximin susceptibility. The prevalence of reduced susceptibility was 7.5 % for all isolates tested. However, for PCR ribotype 027 the prevalence of reduced susceptibility was 26 %. Susceptibility testing in the microbiology laboratory therefore could have an impact on the care and outcome of patients with infection. Our results show that rifaximin--despite its water-insolubility--may be a suitable candidate for disc diffusion testing.

Geophagy and potential health implications: geohelminths, microbes and heavy metals.

The practice of geophagy (soil-eating) is widespread among pregnant and breast-feeding women in sub-Saharan Africa. To assess some of the potential risks accompanying the consumption of geophagic material, we analysed contamination with bacteria, fungi, and geohelminths as well as heavy metals (lead, mercury and cadmium) in 88 African geophagic soil samples, which were purchased in Central, West and East Africa, Europe and the United States. Median microbial viable counts of positive samples were 440 cfu/g (maximum 120,000 cfu/g). The median metal concentrations were 40 mg/kg lead (up to 148 mg/kg), 0.05 mg/kg mercury (up to 0.64 mg/kg), and 0.055 mg/kg cadmium (maximum 0.57 mg/kg). No geohelminth eggs were found in these samples. Our results suggest that geophagic soil samples can be highly contaminated with microbes and may contain high levels of lead. Geophagy, however, is not a cause of adult helminth infection. The periodic consumption of geophagic materials at high dosages might be problematic particularly during pregnancy.

Mechanisms behind variation in the Clostridium difficile 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region.

Clostridium difficile infection is an increasing problem in hospitals worldwide, mainly due to the recent emergence of a hypervirulent C. difficile strain. C. difficile PCR ribotyping, based on size variation of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region (16S-23S ISR), is widely used in Europe for molecular epidemiological investigation. The mechanism underlying the 16S-23S ISR size variations in the genome of C. difficile is currently not completely understood. To elucidate this mechanism, isolates of six different PCR ribotypes were analysed by cloning and sequencing the 16S-23S ISR. A direct repeat, IB, of 9 bp was detected up to five times in the 16S-23S ISR in all 47 clones investigated. Thirty-five clones displayed differences either by ribotype or by nucleotide sequence. The sequences of the 16S-23S ISR of C. difficile showed a uniformly organized structure, composed of a tRNA(Ala) gene and spacers of 33 and 53 bp separated by the 9 bp direct repeat IB. The results of the study support the hypothesis that this composition is responsible for the length variations seen in the 16S-23S ISR, and indicate that these length variations result from slipped-strand mispairing and intra- and possibly interchromosomal homologous recombination.