GI-MAP by Diagnostic Solutions Diagnostic Solutions Laboratory

C. difficile, Toxin B

Optimal Result: 0 - 999 Units.

Clostridioides difficile is a bacterium that causes an infection of the large intestine. Symptoms can range from diarrhea to life-threatening damage to the colon.

The bacterium is often referred to as C. difficile or C. diff.

Illness from C. difficile typically occurs after use of antibiotic medications. It most commonly affects older adults in hospitals or in long-term care facilities.

What are Toxin A and B?

The GI-MAP tests for the genes toxin A and toxin B, which are carried by C. difficile.

Clostridium difficile toxin A (TcdA) is a toxin generated by Clostridium difficile. It is similar to Clostridium difficile Toxin B. The toxins are the main virulence factors produced by the gram positive, anaerobic, Clostridium difficile bacteria.

How do the toxins function?

The toxins function by damaging the intestinal mucosa and cause the symptoms of C. difficile infection, including pseudomembranous colitis.

What are risk factors?

Risk factors for C. difficile infection include antibiotic treatment, which can disrupt normal intestinal microbiota and lead to colonization of C. difficile bacteria.

Epidemiology:

- 2–10% of population are carriers, most are asymptomatic

- Prolonged use of antibiotics may be causative factor

What does it mean if your C. difficile, Toxin B result is too high?

Clinical Implications:

- Symptoms include inflammation, abdominal pain, cramping, fever, and diarrhea

- Symptoms often present during antibiotic use and often subside once antibiotics are discontinued

- Gastrointestinal (GI) infection can cause reactive arthritis

Therapeutic Approaches & Considerations:

- See calprotectin and secretory IgA (SIgA) levels to determine GI inflammation and immune response.

- Consider Saccharomyces boulardii, high dose probiotics, broadspectrum antimicrobial herbs, and 5R Protocol (Read: "What is the 5R Protocol?")

- Mild infections can be treated with metronidazole (=an antibiotic that is used to treat bacterial infections)

- Heavy infections can be treated with vancomycin and fidaxomicin

- Asymptomatic people may not need treatment

- In asymptomatic people with positive toxins A and/or B, the genes are likely not “turned on,” and thus not causing disease. It is still prudent to avoid antibiotics to prevent CDAD (=Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea). Consider antimicrobial herbal formulas, which can suppress C. diff without activating toxin production.

- Additional testing for toxins A and B may be warranted

10 000+ happy customers

100% satisfaction

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ customer support

Understand blood, stool, and urine medical results from all your laboratories.

Upload Your Personal Results

Upload Personal Results

For professional account plans go here

for professional account plans go here

Monthly plan

Annual plan

Own it for life

Subscription
Data entry service included

Data entry service

Our exclusive data entry service is a convenient way to get your results into your private dashboard. Simply attach an image or a file of your lab test results, and one of our qualified data entry team members will add the results for you. We support all sorts of files, whether PDFs, JPGs, or Excel. This service is excellent whether you have a lot of reports to upload or are too busy to do the data entry yourself.
Instant interpretation
Use free data entry form

Free data entry form

We strive to make the data entry process easy for you. Whether by offering dozens of templates to choose from that pre-populate the most popular laboratory panels or by giving you instant feedback on the entered values. Our data entry forms are an easy, fast, and convenient way to enter the reports yourself. There is no limit on how many lab reports you can upload.
4000+ biomarkers explained
Nutrition recommendations
Cancel anytime

Complete

$15 /month

billed every month

monthly
$15 per report

✓ Instant interpretations
✓ 4000+ biomarkers explained
✓ Nutrition recommendations
✓ Free data entry form
✓ Unlimited data
✓ $15 data entry service
✓ Cancel anytime

Advanced

$79 /year

$6.60/month billed annually

yearly
5 reports free

✓ Instant interpretations
✓ 4000+ biomarkers explained
✓ Nutrition recommendations
✓ We enter 5 reports for you
✓ Yearly subscription
✓ Cancel anytime

Data entry included

Unlimited

$250 /once

own it for life

pay once
10 reports free

✓ Instant interpretations
✓ 4000+ biomarkers explained
✓ Nutrition recommendations
✓ We enter 10 reports for you
✓ No subscription
✓ Dedicated support
✓ Unlimited access

Welcome to Healthmatters Pro.

Save time on interpreting lab results with the largest database of biomarkers online. In-depth research on any test at your fingertips, all stored and tracked in one place. Learn more

Pro Monthly Plus

for health professionals

✓ Track multiple clients results
✓ No setup fees
✓ No hidden costs
✓ Instant interpretations
✓ 4000+ biomarkers explained
✓ Includes data entry service
✓ Personal training and support
✓ Cancel anytime

$75 per month

We implement proven measures to keep your data safe.

At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.

Navigate to GI-MAP by Diagnostic Solutions