Pneumococcal pneumonia: potential for diagnosis through a urinary metabolic profile.
Pneumonia, an infection of the lower respiratory tract, is caused by any of a number of different microbial organisms including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) causes a significant number of deaths worldwide, and is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. However, the pathogen(s) responsible for CAP can be difficult to identify, often leading to delays in appropriate antimicrobial therapies. In the present study, we use nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to quantitatively measure the profile of metabolites excreted in the urine of patients with pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and other microbes. We found that the urinary metabolomic profile for pneumococcal pneumonia was significantly different from the profiles for viral and other bacterial forms of pneumonia. These data demonstrate that urinary metabolomic profiles may be useful for the effective diagnosis of CAP.
Slupsky
Carolyn M
CM
Department of Medicine, Magnetic Resonance Diagnostic Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Rankin
Kathryn N
KN
Fu
Hao
H
Chang
David
D
Rowe
Brian H
BH
Charles
Patrick G P
PG
McGeer
Allison
A
Low
Donald
D
Long
Richard
R
Kunimoto
Dennis
D
Sawyer
Michael B
MB
Fedorak
Richard N
RN
Adamko
Darryl J
DJ
Saude
Erik J
EJ
Shah
Sirish L
SL
Marrie
Thomas J
TJ
D000368:Aged; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D055442:Metabolome; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D011018:Pneumonia, Pneumococcal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000652:urine; D013045:Species Specificity; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae; D014556:Urine / Q000737:chemistry*