Use of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry to identify MLST clade 4 Clostridium difficile isolates

Jing-Wei Cheng; Chang Liu; Timothy Kudinha; Meng Xiao; Shu-Ying Yu; Chun-Xia Yang; Ming Wei; Guo-Wei Liang; Dong-Hua Shao; Fanrong Kong; Zhao-Hui Tong; Ying-Chun Xu

doi:10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2018.04.011

Use of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry to identify MLST clade 4 Clostridium difficile isolates

Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2018 Sep;92(1):19-24. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2018.04.011. Epub 2018 Apr 26.

Authors

Jing-Wei Cheng¹, Chang Liu¹, Timothy Kudinha², Meng Xiao³, Shu-Ying Yu¹, Chun-Xia Yang⁴, Ming Wei⁴, Guo-Wei Liang⁵, Dong-Hua Shao⁵, Fanrong Kong⁶, Zhao-Hui Tong⁷, Ying-Chun Xu⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China; Graduate School, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
² The Charles Sturt University, Leeds Parade, Orange, New South Wales, Australia; Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
³ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁴ Department of Infectious diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
⁵ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Aerospace Center Hospital, Beijing, China.
⁶ The Charles Sturt University, Leeds Parade, Orange, New South Wales, Australia.
⁷ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 29789190
DOI: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2018.04.011

Abstract

Clostridium difficile is the leading cause of health care-associated infections. Previous studies suggest that C. difficile MLST clade 4 strains with higher drug resistance rates constitute the major clone spreading in China. Thus development of a rapid and accurate typing method for these strains is needed to monitor the epidemiology of this clone and to guide clinical treatment. A total of 160 non-duplicate C. difficile isolates recovered from three large teaching hospitals in Beijing were studied. All the 41 clade 4 C. difficile isolates clustered together on the PCA dendrogram. Spectra peak statistics revealed that five markers (2691.43Da, 2704.91Da, 2711.93Da, 3247.27Da and 3290.76Da) can easily and reliably distinguish between clade 4 and non-clade 4 isolates, with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.991, 0.997, 0.973, 1 and 1, respectively. In conclusion, MALDI-TOF MS is a very simple and accurate method for identifying C. difficile MLST clade 4 strains.

Keywords: Clade 4; Clostridium difficile; MALDI-TOF MS; MLST; Typing.

MeSH terms

China
Clostridioides difficile / isolation & purification*
Cross Infection / microbiology
Humans
Multilocus Sequence Typing / methods
Phylogeny
Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / methods