Evidence that the enterotoxin gene can be episomal in Clostridium perfringens isolates associated with non-food-borne human gastrointestinal diseases.

Abstract	Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) is responsible for the diarrheal and cramping symptoms of human C. perfringens type A food poisoning. CPE-producing C. perfringens isolates have also recently been associated with several non-food-borne human gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses, including antibiotic-associated diarrhea and sporadic diarrhea. The current study has used restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analyses to compare the genotypes of 43 cpe-positive C. perfringens isolates obtained from diverse sources. All North American and European food-poisoning isolates examined in this study were found to carry a chromosomal cpe, while all non-food-borne human GI disease isolates characterized in this study were determined to carry their cpe on an episome. Collectively, these results provide the first evidence that distinct subpopulations of cpe-positive C. perfringens isolates may be responsible for C. perfringens type A food poisoning versus CPE-associated non-food-borne human GI diseases. If these putative associations are confirmed in additional surveys, cpe RFLP and PFGE genotyping assays may facilitate the differential diagnosis of food-borne versus non-food-borne CPE-associated human GI illnesses and may also be useful epidemiologic tools for identifying reservoirs or transmission mechanisms for the subpopulations of cpe-positive isolates specifically responsible for CPE-associated food-borne versus non-food-borne human GI diseases.
Authors	R E Collie, B A McClane
Journal	Journal of clinical microbiology (J Clin Microbiol) Vol. 36 Issue 1 Pg. 30-6 (Jan 1998) ISSN: 0095-1137 [Print] United States
PMID	9431915 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.)
Chemical References	Enterotoxins enterotoxin, Clostridium
Topics	Chromosome Mapping Clostridium perfringens (genetics, pathogenicity) Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field Enterotoxins (genetics) Humans Plasmids Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length

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