Host Immune Response to Clostridium Difficile Infection in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients

This is a two part pilot study, with the initial phase (Aim 1 and Aim 2) being a cross-sectional epidemiological analysis of Clostridium difficile colonization and anti-toxin antibodies in the IBD population compared to non-IBD patients.

The second phase (Aim 3) is a pilot nested case-control study that will follow both groups of patients prospectively for 12 months to see who develops either colonization or active CDI and correlate these to clinical demographics and serum Clostridium difficile anti-toxin antibodies.

All subjects age eighteen and older who are able to give consent, have a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (see clinical definition of IBD below) and are followed in the Center for Digestive Disease (CDD) are eligible for this study. Control subjects will also be followed in the CDD without a diagnosis of IBD. All subjects will be recruited from routine scheduled visits when seen as outpatients at the CDD or will be identified from the inpatient Gastroenterology consult service or at the Internal Medicine Department at Shapiro as part of Dr. Qazi's rotation(see recruitment section).

Subjects will be recruited in a block fashion to minimize confounding variables and ensure groups with equal amount of diarrhea and to keep a 3:1 ratio of IBD to controls. Subject will be recruited on a consecutive basis in a block of 32 slots. Within that block, 8 slots will be for the control group (4 with diarrhea, 4 without) and 24 IBD patients (12 with diarrhea, 12 without). Once all slots are filled then the next block will begin.

For Aim 1 and Aim 2: Upon enrollment subjects from both groups will provide blood and stool samples (details of amount and timing discussed below) and a retrospective chart review will document pre-determined data (as listed below). Total time requirement upon enrollment would be about 10-15 minutes.