Cholangitis with bacteremia due to Pseudomonas nitroreducens in a patient with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: a case report

• Published in: BMC infectious diseases 2024-02, Vol.24 (1), p.180-180, Article 180
• Main Authors: Itoh, Naoya, Akazawa, Nana, Yamaguchi, Makoto, Murakami, Hiromi, Ohkusu, Kiyofumi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 16S rRNA sequencing; Abdomen; Bacteremia; Bacteremia - diagnosis; Bacteremia - drug therapy; Bacteremia - microbiology; Bacteria; Bacteria - isolation & purification; Bacteria, Aerobic; Bile; Blood; Care and treatment; Case report; Case reports; Case studies; Cefepime; Chills; Cholangitis; Cholangitis - drug therapy; Cholangitis - etiology; Ciprofloxacin; Complications and side effects; Development and progression; Fever; Gene sequencing; Humans; Implants; Infections; Ionization; Liver; MALDI-TOF MS; Male; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Metastasis; Middle Aged; Neuroendocrine Tumors; Oil pollution; Pancreas; Pancreatic cancer; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Pancreatic tumors; Patients; Polyesters; Pseudomonas; Pseudomonas infections; Pseudomonas nitroreducens; rRNA; Sediments; Soil; Soil bacteria; Soil contamination; Soil microorganisms; Soil pollution; Soils; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization - methods; Tumors
• ISSN: 1471-2334; 1471-2334
• DOI: 10.1186/s12879-024-09092-8

Pseudomonas nitroreducens is a non-fermenting, gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium commonly inhabiting soil, particularly soil contaminated with oil brine. To our knowledge, no cases of human infection with P. nitroreducens have been previously reported. Here, we present the first documented case of cholangitis caused by P. nitroreducens in a patient with bacteremia. A 46-year-old Japanese man with an advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor was hospitalized with fever and chills. Four days before admission, the patient developed right upper abdominal pain. Two days later, he also experienced fever and chills. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography was performed on the day of admission, and the patient was diagnosed as having cholangitis associated with stent dysfunction. Gram-negative rods were isolated from blood cultures, but attempts to identify the bacteria using VITEK2 and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) with VITEK MS ver. 4.7.1 (bioMérieux Japan Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) were unsuccessful. Finally, the organism was identified as P. nitroreducens using MALDI-TOF MS with a MALDI Biotyper (Bruker Daltonics Co., Ltd., Billerica, MA, USA) and 16 S ribosomal RNA sequencing. Despite thorough interviews with the patient, he denied any exposure to contaminated soil. The patient was treated with intravenous cefepime and oral ciprofloxacin for 16 days based on susceptibility results, achieving a good therapeutic outcome. At the outpatient follow-up on day 28, the patient was in good general condition. This is the first reported human case of cholangitis with bloodstream infection caused by P. nitroreducens. This report provides clinicians with novel insights into the clinical manifestations and diagnostic methods necessary for the accurate diagnosis of P. nitroreducens, along with guidance on treatment.