Your new experience awaits. Try the new design now and help us make it even better

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

Sec. Clinical and Diagnostic Microbiology and Immunology

Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1645965

This article is part of the Research TopicPerspectives in Clinical Infectious Diseases: 2024/2025View all 15 articles

Diagnostic performance of broad-range PCR in bacterial peritonitis

Provisionally accepted
María  Miguélez SánchezMaría Miguélez Sánchez1*Lauren  RemijasLauren Remijas1Martine  P. BosMartine P. Bos1Tom  LanceeTom Lancee1Robin  van HoudtRobin van Houdt2Andries  E. BuddingAndries E. Budding1
  • 1inBiome B. V., Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 2Medical Microbiology and Infection Control, Amsterdam UMC Locatie VUmc, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

OBJECTIVE: Bacterial peritonitis (BP) is a serious complication commonly associated with cirrhosis and ascites, often leading to high mortality rates. Although these effects could be reduced with timely and appropriate antibiotics, traditional BP diagnosis relies on culture, often delaying targeted treatment. Therefore, the use of fast molecular assays holds the potential to enhance laboratory diagnosis. In this study, we assessed the diagnostic performance of Molecular Culture ID, a broad PCR-based assay targeting the 16S-23S interspace rDNA region in the scope of BP diagnosis. METHODS: The residual material from 247 peritoneal fluid samples submitted for routine diagnostics was analyzed using Molecular Culture ID and compared alongside the standard of care (SOC) results. RESULTS: Sample positivity and species identification outcomes of Molecular Culture ID were compared to those of SOC. Molecular Culture ID yielded 1.6x more positive samples than SOC. Percent positive agreement (PPA) between Molecular Culture ID and SOC at the sample level was 90.1% (IC 95%, 81.0% to 95.1%), and negative percent agreement (NPA) was 70.5% (IC 95%, 63.3% to 76.7%). At the species level, the PPA was 75.2% (95% CI 67.2% to 81.8%). Molecular Culture ID yielded 289 extra bacterial identifications, mainly anaerobic species. High leukocyte counts, indicative of infection, were concordant with Molecular Culture ID positivity. CONCLUSION: Molecular Culture ID demonstrated enhanced BP diagnostic capabilities compared to SOC, with higher positivity rates, more comprehensive species identification for difficult to culture species and a high correlation with leukocyte counts.

Keywords: Peritonitis, Molecular diagnosis, Broad range PCR assay, Ascites fluid infection, PMN (polymorphonuclear leucocyte), molecular diagnosis and epidemiology of enteric infections

Received: 12 Jun 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Miguélez Sánchez, Remijas, Bos, Lancee, van Houdt and Budding. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: María Miguélez Sánchez, inBiome B. V., Amsterdam, Netherlands

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.