Metagenomic next-generation sequencing of cell-free DNA for the identification of viruses causing central nervous system infections

This study provides significant new data on the application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) to clinical diagnostics of central nervous system (CNS) viral infections, which can have high mortality rates and severe sequelae. Conventional diagnostic procedures for identifying viruses c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microbiology spectrum 2024-01, Vol.12 (1), p.e0226423-e0226423
Main Authors: Lu, Yuying, Zhang, Ye, Lou, Zheng, He, Xiaomin, Zhang, Qinghua, Zhang, Qingxia, Zhao, Shu, Chen, Han, Zhu, Haixia, Song, Zhi, Zhang, Ruxu, Ma, Caiyu, Liu, Ding
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
cell-free DNA
central nervous system infection
cerebrospinal fluid
Clinical Microbiology
herpesvirus
metagenomic sequencing
Research Article
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Summary:This study provides significant new data on the application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) to clinical diagnostics of central nervous system (CNS) viral infections, which can have high mortality rates and severe sequelae. Conventional diagnostic procedures for identifying viruses can be inefficient and rely on preconceived assumptions about the pathogen, making mNGS an appealing alternative. However, the effectiveness of mNGS is affected by the presence of human DNA contamination, which can be minimized by using cell-free DNA (cfDNA) instead of whole-cell DNA (wcDNA). This multi-center retrospective study of patients with suspected viral CNS infection found that mNGS using cfDNA had a significantly lower proportion of human DNA and higher sensitivity for detecting viruses than mNGS using wcDNA. Herpesviruses, particularly VZV, were found to be the most common DNA viruses in these patients. Overall, mNGS using cfDNA is a promising complementary diagnostic method for detecting CNS viral infections.
ISSN:2165-0497
2165-0497
DOI:10.1128/spectrum.02264-23