Association between severity of Clostridium difficile disease and different types of toxins---A systematic review

Clostridium difficile is the most important and common cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea. Toxin A and B are two important protein toxins responsible for C. difficile disease. This systematic review was undertaken to summarize the association between severity of C. difficile disease and different types of toxins. Only 5 studies were found that met the inclusion criteria. Only two studies reported results that were statistically significant and that the C. difficile disease was more severe in patient with binary toxin genes. Other three studies did not report significant findings but the authors stated that these studies were too small to detect true association. The main difference between the studies which detect association and those which did not detect association was the sample size. Well-designed and large scale studies are needed to strengthen the relationship between severe disease and toxin types. ^