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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Rapid Identification of Gram Negative Bacteria from Blood Culture Broth Using MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry
Published on: May 28, 2014
Microarray-Based Nucleic Acid Assay and MALDI-TOF MS Analysis for the Detection of Gram-Negative Bacteria in Direct
Seon Young Kim1, Jeong Su Park2, Yun Ji Hong2
1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
Objectives:
To compare a microarray-based identification and resistance determination system (blood culture gram-negative [BC-GN]; Nanosphere, Northbrook, IL) with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for direct blood cultures (BCs).
Methods:
BC-GN and MALDI-TOF MS assay results from direct BCs were compared with conventional test results after pure culture.
Results:
Among 124 BCs, 130 gram-negative rods (GNRs), including six cultures with mixed GNRs (117 bacteria were covered by the BC-GN panel), were detected. The BC-GN test presented 116/117 (99.1%) concordance for the identification of targeted GNRs. Among the six polymicrobial BCs, 10 targeted GNRs were correctly identified. Among the 100 BCs tested by MALDI-TOF MS, 88/106 (86.7%) GNRs were correctly identified, and 18 GNRs were not identified. Among the six polymicrobial samples, seven of 12 GNRs (58.3%) were correctly identified.
Conclusions:
The BC-GN assay exhibited superior performance compared with MALDI-TOF MS for the identification of targeted GNRs in direct BCs, particularly in polymicrobial samples.
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