title: Cerebrospinal Fluid in a Small Cohort of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Was Generally Free of Microbial DNA.
abstract: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common cause of non-traumatic neurologic disability with high incidence in many developed countries. Although the etiology of the disease remains elusive, it is thought to entail genetic and environmental causes, and microbial pathogens have also been envisioned as contributors to the phenotype. We conducted a metagenomic survey in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 28 MS patients and 15 patients suffering other type of neurological conditions. We detected bacterial reads in eight out of the 15 non-MS patients and in a single MS patient, at an abundance >1% of total classified reads. Two patients were of special interest: one non-MS patient harbored ~73% bacterial reads, while an MS patient had ~83% bacterial reads. In the former case,Veillonella parvula, a bacterium occasionally found associated with meningitis was the predominant species, whilstKocuria flava, apparently an environmental bacterium, predominated in the latter case. Thirty-four out of 43 samples contained <1% bacterial reads, which we regard as cross- or environmental contamination. A few viral reads corresponding to Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, and parvovirus were also identified. Our results suggest that CSF of MS patients is often (but not always) free of microbial DNA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Alberta Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jovel
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Alberta Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: O'keefe
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Alberta Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Jordan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Alberta Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bording-Jorgensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Alberta Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Alberta Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Andrew L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Alberta Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Kenneth G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of AlbertaEdmonton, AB, Canada; Department of Biological Sciences, University of AlbertaEdmonton, AB, Canada; Beijing Genomics Institute-Shenzhen, Beishan Industrial ZoneShenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Gane Ka-Shu
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D056186:Metagenomics; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004279:DNA, Viral
keywords: bioinforamtics; cerebrospinal fluid; metagenomics; microbiome; multiple sclerosis