title: Molecular revolution in the diagnosis of microbial brain abscesses.
abstract: A brain abscess is a life-threatening infection, frequently with serious sequelae. Culture-based methods present many limitations and do not enable an exhaustive documentation of the bacterial flora. 16S rRNA-based amplification, cloning, and high-throughput sequencing have dramatically increased the number of identified agents of brain abscesses, showing that the causative flora is polymicrobial in up to 40 % of cases, with the presence of at least one anaerobic bacterium. In contrast, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology is an appealing alternative to culture-based methods for diagnosing brain abscesses due to its speed, sensitivity, and specificity. Molecular typing is available for several bacterial and fungal genera, and this user-friendly tool is accessible for the clinical microbiology laboratory to diagnose microbes involved in a brain abscess. This article reviews the applications of the currently available tools for the etiological diagnosis of a brain abscess.
authors.affiliation: URMITE, UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, Inserm 1095, Aix-Marseille Université, Faculté de Médecine, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385, Marseille cedex 05, France.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dufour
authors.forename: P-H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Roche
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lonjon
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raoult
authors.forename: P-E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Fournier
mesh_terms: D001922:Brain Abscess / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D058889:Molecular Typing / Q000379:methods*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S