Molecular epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Clostridioides difficile in Xi'an.

BACKGROUND

Clostridioides difficile is a leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and a growing public health concern, yet data on its genomic characteristics and antimicrobial resistance in Northwest China remain scarce.

METHODS

This study investigated the molecular epidemiology and resistance profiles of C. difficile in Xi'an using 149 toxigenic isolates recovered from diarrhoeal stool samples collected across seven hospitals between 2018 and 2025. Isolates were characterised by whole-genome sequencing (WGS), multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and PCR-ribotyping, with antimicrobial susceptibility determined by the Etest method.

RESULTS

The predominant toxin profile was A+B+CDT- (88.6%, 132/149), followed by A-B+CDT- (8.7%, 13/149) and A+B+CDT+ (2.7%, 4/149); binary toxin (CDT)-positive isolates were exclusively A+B+. MLST and ribotyping resolved 29 sequence types (STs) and 48 ribotypes (RTs), with ST42/RT106 (17.4%), ST3/RT001 (9.4%), and ST54/RT012 (8.7%) the most prevalent. All isolates remained susceptible to metronidazole and vancomycin, whereas high resistance proportions were observed for ciprofloxacin (84.6%), erythromycin (56.4%), and clindamycin (53.7%). The Thr82Ile substitution in GyrA was detected in fluoroquinolone-resistant isolates, and the Arg505Lys substitution in RpoB in rifampicin-resistant isolates.

CONCLUSION

These findings establish, to our knowledge, the first comprehensive genomic profile of C. difficile in Xi'an and may inform regional surveillance and antimicrobial stewardship efforts.