Resumen de Clostridium perfringens and its arsenal of toxins
TOXINS produced by strains of Clostridium perfringens have a long history of research. The most studied toxin to date, the α toxin of type A C perfringens, achieved notoriety because of its role in gas gangrene in the trenches of the First World War. But it didn't stop there; many additional toxins have been characterised since and it seems that the arsenal of toxins has reached new heights with recent discoveries.
A short communication by Mehdizadeh Gohari and others (2016), which is summarised on p 216 in this week's Veterinary Record, highlights the identification of the novel netF-positive type A C perfringens in foals with enteritis and enterocolitis in Kentucky. The NetF toxin is one of a series of recently discovered toxins belonging to the pore-forming leukocidin/haemolysin superfamily. Additionally, NetF protein was found in the autogenous bacterin-toxoid vaccine utilising a Kentucky C perfringens type A strain that also carries genes for the α toxin (CPA), β-2 toxin (CPB2) and enterotoxin (CPE). This bacterin-toxoid vaccine was specifically developed for the local induction of lactogenic immunity in prepartum mares on Kentucky breeding farms with histories of foal diarrhoea (Timoney and others 2005).
