Comparison of PCR and conventional blood culture to analyze blood from dogs with suspected sepsis.
Sepsis carries a poor prognosis in critically ill dogs. PCR-based diagnostics could be more sensitive for detecting bacteremia than conventional blood culture, allowing earlier initiation of appropriate therapy. Molecular techniques have been considered as ancillary tools for detecting bacteremia and identifying pathogens in humans and in dogs with bacterial endocarditis. This study compared PCR analysis and blood culture for detecting bacteremia in six dogs with suspected sepsis and six healthy control dogs. One blood culture from a dog with suspected sepsis was positive but none from the healthy controls. PCR was negative for extracts from all dogs. This pilot study does not support the hypothesis that culture-independent PCR-based techniques used directly on small samples of blood are useful for diagnosing bacteremia in dogs with suspected sepsis.
Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4474, USA. Electronic address: rheilmann@cvm.tamu.edu.
Romy M
RM
Heilmann
Panagiotis G
PG
Xenoulis
James W
JW
Barr
Scot E
SE
Dowd
Sara D
SD
Lawhon
Jan S
JS
Suchodolski
Jörg M
JM
Steiner
D000818:Animals; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000379:methods* / Q000662:veterinary; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods* / Q000662:veterinary; D018805:Sepsis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*
Bacterial DNA; Blood culture; Molecular technique; PCR; Sepsis