title: Rapid identification of common human pathogens by high-resolution proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
abstract: Routine procedures for recovery of bacteria from clinical specimens involve culturing the latter on various nonselective and selective agar media. The bacteria are then identified by means of biochemical and immunological test procedures. Reduction of the time required to identify the bacteria is highly desirable for rapid clinical diagnosis. Towards this end the potential of proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for providing a "fingerprint" within the proton spectrum of five bacterial genera, reflecting their characteristic cell wall constituents, has been investigated. Establishing a database of high-resolution proton NMR spectra of a large number of bacterial species is a prerequisite for attaining this objective. A database has been established for five common human pathogens: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus faecalis. On the basis of the presence of characteristic resonances in their spectra, a simple algorithm has been developed to differentiate and identify these microorganisms. The NMR spectra of E. coli and S. aureus showed no dependency on the type of growth medium, growth density, or incubation time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Delpassand
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Chari
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Stager
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Morrisett
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romazi
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003470:Culture Media; D016208:Databases, Factual; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis / Q000737:chemistry; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000737:chemistry; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae / Q000737:chemistry; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D011522:Protons; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000737:chemistry; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D011522:Protons