Rapid, multiplex and automated detection of bacteria and fungi in endophthalmitis via a microfluidic real-time pcr system

Endophthalmitis is an ophthalmologic emergency requiring accurate and rapid diagnosis for treatment. Currently, the diagnosis commonly relies on culture and molecular biology, which falls short of clinical rapid diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a self-build Microfluidic Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) System for rapidly identifying potential pathogens of endophthalmitis.

This study included 22 patients who presented to Shenzhen Eye Hospital and the Ophthalmology Department of the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University in China between January 2023 and March 2024. The samples were cultured using conventional methods and underwent Microfluidic RT-PCR and metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS).

The Microfluidic RT-PCR System identified pathogens in 11 of 22 cases (50.00%), compared with 40.91% for microbiology culture. 14 cases (63.64%) had concordant results, and 5 cases were positive for the microfluidic system only. The agreements between culture and microfluidic system, as well as culture and mNGS were 100.00% (6/6) and 50.00% (3/6), respectively. The average waiting time for the microfluidic system was about 30 min if excepting DNA extraction time, which was much shorter than 2.88 days for culture and 1.57 days for mNGS.

The microfluidic-based RT-PCR system was preliminarily proved to be a sensitive, easy-to-operate, and rapid in-hospital technology. It is expected to become a rapid diagnostic platform for endophthalmitis.