Characterizations of Clinical Isolates of Clostridium difficile by Toxin Genotypes and by Susceptibility to 12 Antimicrobial Agents, Including Fidaxomicin (OPT-80) and Rifaximin: a Multicenter Study in Taiwan

A total of 403 nonduplicate isolates of Clostridium difficile were collected at three major teaching hospitals representing northern, central, and southern Taiwan from January 2005 to December 2010. Of these 403 isolates, 170 (42.2%) were presumed to be nontoxigenic due to the absence of genes for toxins A or B or binary toxin. The remaining 233 (57.8%) isolates carried toxin A and B genes, and 39 (16.7%) of these also had binary toxin genes. The MIC90 of all isolates for fidaxomicin and rifaximin was 0.5 mu g/ml (range, <= 0.015 to 0.5 mu g/ml) and > 128 mu g/ml (range, <= 0.015 to > 128 mu g/ml), respectively. All isolates were susceptible to metronidazole (MIC90 of 0.5 mu g/ml; range, <= 0.03 to 4 mu g/ml). Two isolates had reduced susceptibility to vancomycin (MICs, 4 mu g/ml). Only 13.6% of isolates were susceptible to clindamycin (MIC of <= 2 mu g/ml). Nonsusceptibility to moxifloxacin (n = 81, 20.1%) was accompanied by single or multiple mutations in gyrA and gyrB genes in all but eight moxifloxacin-nonsusceptible isolates. Two previously unreported gyrB mutations might independently confer resistance (MIC, 16 mu g/ml), Ser416 to Ala and Glu466 to Lys. Moxifloxacin-resistant isolates were cross-resistant to ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin, but some moxifloxacin-nonsusceptible isolates remained susceptible to gemifloxacin or nemonoxacin at 0.5 mu g/ml. This study found the diversity of toxigenic and nontoxigenic strains of C. difficile in the health care setting in Taiwan. All isolates tested were susceptible to metronidazole and vancomycin. Fidaxomicin exhibited potent in vitro activity against all isolates tested, while the more than 10% of Taiwanese isolates with rifaximin MICs of >= 128 mu g/ml raises concerns.