Targeted Metagenomics for Clinical Detection and Discovery of Bacterial Tickborne Pathogens
Posted by Adam Awdish on
Single Donor Human Whole Blood from Innovative Research was used in the following study:
Targeted Metagenomics for Clinical Detection and Discovery of Bacterial Tickborne Pathogens
Luke Kingry, Sarah Sheldon, Stephanie Oatman, Bobbi Pritt, Melissa Anacker, Jenna Bjork, David Neitzel, Anna Strain, Jon Berry, Lynne Sloan, Laurel Respicio-Kingry, Elizabeth Dietrich, Karen Bloch, Abelardo Moncayo, Ganesh Srinivasamoorthy, Bin Hu, Alison Hinckley, Paul Mead, Kiersten Kugeler, Jeannine Petersen
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
September 2, 2020
Tickborne infections are a continually growing public health threat, and millions of people require medical treatment every year for reasons related to such infections. The diagnostic testing required for the growing number of tickborne illnesses is significant, with more than 2.4 million samples tested annually for Lyme disease at an estimated cost of $492 million in the US alone. Infections caused by ticks are diverse, including bacteria, viruses, and protozoa, though bacteria are the most common. For most infection-causing agents that can be transmitted by ticks, in vitro cultures can take several weeks or more to grow and are thus rarely used for diagnostic testing. Serology or PCR panels directed at known disease agents are the most common diagnostic tests, however, because neither approach produces information on DNA sequences, detection of all bacterial pathogens and genetic characterization of new pathogens transmitted by ticks is not optimal.
It has been shown that amplification of one or more of the nine variable (V) regions of the 16S rRNA gene, which is present in all bacteria, combined with sequencing and taxonomic assignment, reveals all bacterial taxa in a sample. In this study, researchers developed a high-throughput 16S V1-V2 rDNA-based metagenomics assay and evaluated it using >13,000 residual samples from patients suspected of tickborne illness and >1000 controls. Taxonomic predictions for tickborne bacteria were exceptionally accurate, as independently validated by secondary testing. These results indicate 16S V1-V2 metagenomics can greatly simplify diagnosis and accelerate discovery of bacterial tickborne pathogens.
Related products available from Innovative Research also include:
Single Donor Human Red Blood Cells Washed