Propionibacterium acnes: Disease-causing agent or common contaminant? detection in diverse patient samples by next- generation sequencing

Sarah Mollerup*, Jens Friis-Nielsen, Lasse Vinner, Thomas Arn Hansen, Stine Raith Richter, Helena Fridholm, Jose Alejandro Romero Herrera, Ole Lund, Søren Brunak, Jose M.G. Izarzugaz, Tobias Mourier, Lars Peter Nielsen, Anders Johannes Hansen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

77 Scopus citations

Abstract

Propionibacterium acnes is the most abundant bacterium on human skin, particularly in sebaceous areas. P. acnes is suggested to be an opportunistic pathogen involved in the development of diverse medical conditions but is also a proven contaminant of human clinical samples and surgical wounds. Its significance as a pathogen is consequently a matter of debate. In the present study, we investigated the presence of P. acnes DNA in 250 next-generation sequencing data sets generated from 180 samples of 20 different sample types, mostly of cancerous origin. The samples were subjected to either microbial enrichment, involving nuclease treatment to reduce the amount of host nucleic acids, or shotgun sequencing. We detected high proportions of P. acnes DNA in enriched samples, particularly skin tissue-derived and other tissue samples, with the levels being higher in enriched samples than in shotgun-sequenced samples. P. acnes reads were detected in most samples analyzed, though the proportions in most shotgun-sequenced samples were low. Our results show that P. acnes can be detected in practically all sample types when molecular methods, such as next-generation sequencing, are employed. The possibility of contamination from the patient or other sources, including laboratory reagents or environment, should therefore always be considered carefully when P. acnes is detected in clinical samples. We advocate that detection of P. acnes always be accompanied by experiments validating the association between this bacterium and any clinical condition.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)980-987
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Clinical Microbiology
Volume54
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2016

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology (medical)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Propionibacterium acnes: Disease-causing agent or common contaminant? detection in diverse patient samples by next- generation sequencing'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this