Clostridium Difficilein Bee Products: Assessing The Spread Of The Bacterium

The vicinity of small apiaries to the farms makes honey and bee pollen prone to the contamination with clostridial spores. The possible presence ofClostridium difficile(C. difficile) spores in bee products may pose a risk especially to elderly who perceive them as natural remedies in health problems including functional bowel abnormalities. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence ofC. difficilespores in 120 samples of honey and 44 samples of bee pollen harvested in Northeastern Europe. All incubation procedures were performed in anaerobic conditions. The 10 g samples were subsequently pre-enriched in Cooked Meat Medium (CMM) and Brain Heart Infusion-supplement (BHIS) broths. Sporulated forms were seeded on supplementedC. difficileblood agar. Rapid immunoenzymatic tests targeted at glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) detection and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeted attpigene detection were also performed. Based on microbiological culture 32 (20%) out of 164 samples were selected for culture on blood agar. The growth of ground-glass colonies was noted towards 13 (8%) samples. The presence ofC. difficilewas not confirmed by immunoenzymatic rapid tests towards any sample selected. Neither PCR assay targeted totpigene showed positive samples. This is the first report reviewing the possibility of native to EuropeApis mellifera(A. mellifera) bee products contamination withC. difficile. The samples ofA. melliferabee products produced in small apiaries in Northeastern Europe did not show the presence ofC. difficilespores.