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Backgrounds and Aim:  Clostridium difficile has been identified as a pathogen in antibiotic associated diarrhea, pseudo-membranous colitis. The ready-to-eat vegetable salads (REVS) are one of the possible sources for transmission of C. difficile to human. The aim of the present study was isolation and identification of Clostridium difficile in ready-to-eat vegetable salads in the restaurants of Tabriz by Real-time PCR and determination of its antibiotic resistance pattern.
 Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 60 ready-to-eat vegetable salads samples were collected randomly from restaurants in different regions of Tabriz from February to June 2015. After preparation and DNA extraction, Clostridium difficile was identified by Real-time PCR method. Disc diffusion method was used to determine antimicrobial resistance of the isolates to eight different antibiotics. Using SPSS 19 software, chi-square was used for data analysis. p ≤0.05 was considered significant.
 Results: Among that 60 samples, 8 (13.33%) were contaminated with Clostridium difficile. There was no difference in Clostridium difficle prevalence in different regions (p= 0.296). Among eight antibiotics used in this study, nalidixic acid with 8 isolates (100%) and Clindamycin with 7 isolates (87.5%) had the highest resistance rate. We found no resistance to metronidazole and vancomycin.
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the ready-to-eat salad vegetables can be a way for transmission of Clostridium difficle to humans. Therefore it is necessary to take necessary measures to prevent transmission of the infection through ready to- eat vegetable salads  
Keywords: Clostridium difficile, Antibiotic resistance, Ready-to-eat vegetable salads, Real-time PCR.
 
Received: Oct 31, 2016      Accepted: Mar 14, 2017