Abstract
Clostridium is a broad genus of anaerobic, spore-forming, rod-shaped, Gram-positive bacteria that can be found in different environments all around the world. The genus includes human and animal pathogens that produce potent exotoxins that cause rapid and potentially fatal diseases responsible for countless human casualties and billion-dollar annual loss to the agricultural sector. Diseases include botulism, tetanus, enterotoxemia, gas gangrene, necrotic enteritis, pseudomembranous colitis, blackleg, and black disease, which are caused by pathogenic Clostridium. Due to their ability to sporulate, they cannot be eradicated from the environment. As such, immunization with toxoid or bacterin-toxoid vaccines is the only protective method against infection. Toxins recovered from Clostridium cultures are inactivated to form toxoids, which are then formulated into multivalent vaccines. This review discusses the toxins, diseases, and toxoid production processes of the most common pathogenic Clostridium species, including Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium tetani, Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium chauvoei, Clostridium septicum, Clostridium novyi and Clostridium hemolyticum.
Highlights
The genus Clostridium comprises an abundant range of anaerobic, spore-forming, rod-shaped, Gram-positive bacteria that can be found in many different environments, such as soil, marine sediments, sewage, decomposed and rusted products, as well as human and animal gastrointestinal tracts and feces [1]
Key Contribution: This review describes the current status of the process for vaccine production to protect against pathogenic Clostridia
Clostridium tetani is the etiological agent of tetanus, a fatal neuroparalytic disease caused by the tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT) or tetanospasmin
Summary
The genus Clostridium comprises an abundant range of anaerobic, spore-forming, rod-shaped, Gram-positive bacteria that can be found in many different environments, such as soil, marine sediments, sewage, decomposed and rusted products, as well as human and animal gastrointestinal tracts and feces [1]. Pseudomembranous colitis, blackleg, black disease, and non-traumatic gas gangrene are other well-known diseases associated with the toxins produced by other Clostridium, such as Clostridium difficile, Clostridium septicum, Clostridium chauvoei and Clostridium novyi [10,11,12,13]. Many of these diseases are important human health concerns, such as tetanus in non-developed countries [14], C. perfringens foodborne infections [15], or the rising incidence of C. difficle (arguably a distinct genus) infections [16]. The present work does not include C. difficile, as there are no commercially available vaccines for the prevention of its disease in animals
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
