Clostridium difficile Toxin A antibody

Background of Clostridium difficile Toxin A antibody

Clostridia are toxin-producing anaerobic bacteria that cause a number of serious diseases, including tetanus, botulism, and tissue infections. Clostridia normally inhabit the human intestinal tract, soil, and decaying vegetation. All species of clostridia produce toxins. Some clostridial diseases, such as botulism and the various diarrheal illnesses, result solely from the toxin without any bacterial invasion of tissue. In other clostridial diseases, such as tetanus and clostridial wound infections, there is both tissue invasion and toxin production. This antibody detects Clostridium difficile, a gram-positive motile bacterium which is the leading cause of diarrhoea in developed countries. The incidence of disease in humans varies greatly with age, spore density, and the administration of antibiotics. Toxin A (TcdA) is a large exotoxin which is an essential virulence factor for C. difficile infection. TcdA has a molecular weight of 308kD and is a glucosyltransferase, which irreversibly inactivates the Ras family of small GTPases to disrupt many important signalling pathways.