Applying the pathogen-targeted next-generation sequencing method to pathogen identification in cerebrospinal fluid.

Area of Science:

• Clinical Microbiology
• Infectious Diseases
• Genomics

Background:

• Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture has low detection sensitivity for meningitis diagnosis.
• Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) and pathogen-targeted NGS (ptNGS) are advanced pathogen detection methods.
• Evaluating ptNGS performance in CSF pathogen detection is crucial for clinical application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the diagnostic performance of ptNGS in CSF samples from meningitis patients.
• To compare ptNGS with mNGS for pathogen detection sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency.

Main Methods:

• CSF specimens were collected from 38 meningitis patients.
• Pathogen identification was performed using both ptNGS and mNGS.
• Statistical analysis was used to compare the detection performance of the two methods.

Main Results:

• ptNGS showed higher sensitivity (70.8%) than mNGS (41.7%) in detecting pathogens.
• ptNGS identified more positive samples (34.2%) than mNGS (10.5%) alone.
• ptNGS offered faster diagnosis (15 vs. 24 hours) and lower costs than mNGS.

Conclusions:

• ptNGS demonstrates significantly higher sensitivity for pathogen detection in CSF compared to mNGS.
• ptNGS provides a more timely and economical diagnostic solution for meningitis.
• The enhanced sensitivity, speed, and cost-effectiveness make ptNGS a valuable tool for clinical use.