Corynebacterium diphtheriae

Corynebacterium diphtheriae is a Gram-positive, club-shaped bacterium that can cause diphtheria. Its most severe effects occur when toxin-producing strains release diphtheria toxin.

Diphtheria toxin: A bacterial exotoxin that inhibits protein synthesis by inactivating elongation factor 2. This toxin, encoded by a bacteriophage gene, drives the severe effects of toxigenic strains.
Gram-positive bacteria: Bacteria that retain crystal violet during Gram staining, generally because of a thick peptidoglycan cell wall. C. diphtheriae belongs to this broad bacterial group.
Diphtheria: An infectious disease marked by local respiratory or skin infection and, in severe cases, toxin-mediated systemic damage. C. diphtheriae is the principal cause of this disease.
Edwin Klebs: A German-Swiss pathologist who described the bacterium associated with diphtheria in 1883. His observations first linked the characteristic organism to diphtheria.
Myocarditis: Inflammation of the heart muscle that can impair cardiac function and cause arrhythmias. Absorbed diphtheria toxin can injure the heart after throat symptoms begin.
Bacteriophage: A virus that infects bacteria and may alter their traits by integrating genetic material into a bacterial genome. A lysogenic bacteriophage can supply the toxin gene that makes C. diphtheriae toxigenic.
Corynebacterium: A genus of irregularly shaped, Gram-positive bacteria that includes human pathogens and common environmental species. C. diphtheriae is one species within this genus.
Elek test: An immunodiffusion test that detects diphtheria toxin production by bacterial isolates. It determines whether a cultured isolate expresses the toxin responsible for severe disease.
Friedrich Löffler: A German bacteriologist who isolated the diphtheria bacillus in 1884. His isolation established the bacterium as the disease’s causative agent.
Peripheral neuropathy: Damage to nerves outside the brain and spinal cord, causing sensory or motor dysfunction. Diphtheria toxin can produce delayed nerve injury, including weakness and paralysis.

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