CASE REPORT article
Front. Med.
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Pathogenesis and Therapy
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1688037
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring Clinical Application Scenarios of Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing for Pathogen DiagnosisView all 12 articles
Next-Generation Metagenomic Sequencing in the Diagnosis of Brucella-Associated Joint Infections: A Case Series Analysis and Comprehensive Literature Review
Provisionally accepted
- Liaocheng People's Hospital, Liaocheng, China
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Background: The application of next-generation metagenomic sequencing (mNGS) in the diagnosis of human brucellosis, particularly in cases of joint brucellosis infection, remains under-explored, with rarely no case reports available in the literature. We present the first case series focusing on the application of mNGS in the diagnosis of Brucella joint infections. The results indicate that mNGS plays a crucial role in diagnosing Brucella joint infections, serving as a valuable complement, particularly for culture-negative patients. Case presentation: This study presents a comprehensive analysis of four cases of human joint brucellosis diagnosed using mNGS on the BGI sequencing platform, involving three male and one female patients aged from 42 to 63 years, all of whom had documented epidemiological exposure histories. mNGS successfully identified Brucella sequences in all cases, with additional diagnostic findings including a positive Brucella agglutination test in Patient 1, positive joint fluid cultures in Patients 3 and 4, and no positive results in Patient 2. Following surgery and targeted antibiotic therapy, all patients exhibited clinical improvement and favorable follow-up outcomes. Conclusion: These findings underscore the utility of mNGS as a critical diagnostic tool for joint brucellosis infections and highlight its potential as a complementary approach in cases of culture-negative joint infections. In cases where clinical suspicion of joint infection persists despite the absence of identifiable etiological evidence, the implementation of mNGS is strongly advised to facilitate timely and accurate clinical decision-making.
Keywords: metagenomic next-generation sequencing, Brucellosis, Joint infection, diagnosis, literature review
Received: 18 Aug 2025; Accepted: 20 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhiqing, Duan, Li, Cao and Pang. 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: You Zhiqing, txt19876@163.com
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