Validation and Retrospective Clinical Evaluation of a Quantitative 16S rRNA Gene Metagenomic Sequencing Assay for Bacterial Pathogen Detection in Body Fluids

Next-generation sequencing –based 16S rRNA gene metagenomic sequencing (16S MG) technology has tremendous potential for improving diagnosis of bacterial infections given its quantitative capability and culture-independent approach. We validated and utilized a quantitative 16S MG assay to identify and quantify bacterial spec ies in clinical samples from a wide spectrum of infections including meningitis, septic arthritis, brain abscess, intra-abdominal abscess, soft tissue abscess, and pneumonia. Twenty clinical samples were tested and 16S MG identified a total of 34 species, compared to 22 species and three descriptive findings identified by culture.
Source: Journal of Molecular Diagnostics - Category: Pathology Authors: Tags: Regular article Source Type: research