Journal Article

Next-generation sequencing of 16S rRNA for identification of invasive bacterial pathogens in a formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded placental specimen: a case report of perinatal fulminant Streptococcus pyogenes infection

Saito, Tsuyoshi, Yokota, Shin-ichi, Shimada, Hiroshi, Ashikawa, Kyota, Mariya, Tasuku, Nagai, Yoko, Sakuraba, Yoshiyuki, Tanaka, Suguru E., Ishioka, Shinichi, Arai, Wataru, Ishido, Manami, Sato, Toyotaka, Fujibe, Yuya, Kubo, Terufumi

2021

Overview

Intrauterine infection is one of the most important causes of maternal death. In perinatal emergency, we often miss an opportunity to obtain culture specimens. In this study, we tried to examine whether we investigated whether bacteria causing infection can be detected from a formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) placental specimen. We examined the placenta from a maternal invasive infection that resulted in infectious abortion at 18 weeks of gestation. The case was diagnosed by acute fever and abdominal pain, and the patient was cured after 3 weeks of intensive antimicrobial treatment. Four Streptococcus pyogenes strains were isolated from vaginal fluid and blood cultures of the patient. All of the strain types were emm 1/ST28. We amplified the V1–V2 region of 16S rRNA from an FFPE placental specimen and sequencing was performed using a next-generation sequencer (NGS). Taxonomic analysis was then performed for sequenced data. We succeeded in detecting causative pathogens from the FFPE placenta: 69.1% of the predominantly identified bacteria were S. pyogenes and other small populations of bacteria were detected. Our results revealed the utility of NGS for 16S rRNA analysis of an FFPE placenta. This method may reveal previous perinatal invasive infections of unknown origin retrospectively.

• Publisher: Springer Singapore,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Anatomy / Antibiotics / Bacteria / Blood / Case Report / Case reports / Catheters / Disease / Female / Fever / Formaldehyde / High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / Hospitals / Humans / Infections / Intensive care / Medical laboratories / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Molecular Medicine / Mortality / Next-generation sequencing / Paraffin / Paraffin Embedding / Paraffins / Pathogens / Pathology / Patients / Placenta / Pregnancy / Retrospective Studies / RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics / rRNA 16S / Scarlet fever / Streptococcus infections / Streptococcus pyogenes / Streptococcus pyogenes - genetics / Taxonomy / Vagina