Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Clostridium perfringens toxin genes in dogs with bloody diarrhea
By Sindern, Natalie et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2019·Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Prevalence of Clostridium perfringens netE and netF toxin genes in the feces of dogs with acute hemorrhagic diarrhea syndrome.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with acute hemorrhagic diarrhea syndrome (AHDS) had fecal samples tested for specific toxin genes from a bacteria called Clostridium perfringens. Out of the dogs with AHDS, nearly half were found to have these toxin genes, while none of the dogs with parvovirus had them. This suggests that these toxins might be linked to the severe diarrhea seen in AHDS. However, there was no difference in recovery times or other health indicators between dogs with and without the toxins. More research is needed to understand the role of these toxins in causing AHDS.
People also search for: dog diarrhea causes · Clostridium perfringens in dogs · acute hemorrhagic diarrhea treatment
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Recently, novel pore-forming toxin genes designated netE and netF were identified in a Clostridium perfringens type A strain isolated from a dog with acute hemorrhagic diarrhea. OBJECTIVES: Pore-forming toxins could play an important role in the disease pattern of acute hemorrhagic diarrhea syndrome (AHDS) in dogs. Thus, we aimed to determine the prevalence of C. perfringens genes encoding for netE and netF in the feces of dogs with AHDS and to evaluate any association between selected clinical variables and the presence of these toxin genes. ANIMALS: In total, 174 dogs were included in the study. METHODS: Fecal samples of all dogs were tested by real-time polymerase chain reaction for netE and netF genes. Time to recovery, hospitalization time, and selected laboratory variables were compared between dogs with AHDS that were positive or negative for the toxin genes. RESULTS: A significant difference was found among the 3 groups in the prevalence of the pore-forming toxin genes netE and netF: dogs with AHDS: 26 of 54 (48.1%); dogs with canine parvovirus (CPV) infection: 0 of 54 (0%); and healthy dogs: 8 of 66 (12.1%; P < .001). In dogs with AHDS, no significant difference was detected in any variables evaluated between netE-positive and netF-positive and netE-negative and netF-negative dogs. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The prevalence of C. perfringens encoding for netE and netF is significantly higher in dogs with AHDS compared to control dogs. Further studies are warranted to evaluate whether these toxins are an inciting cause for AHDS in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30499621/