ABSTRACT
Brevibacterium spp. are Gram-positive, irregularly rod-shaped, strictly aerobic bacteria that resemble corynebacteria. Since they are a part of normal skin flora, they have been regarded as apathogenic, and human infections related to them are very rare. A 46-year-old man previously diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma presented with fever without a definitive infectious source. Blood cultures from both peripheral blood and a central venous catheter showed that only aerobic bottles grew contaminants, while anaerobic bottles did not. Although the automated microbial identification system indicated Propionibacterium acnes, the isolated species was identified as B. casei by 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Our case emphasizes the utilization of 16S rRNA sequence analysis when the result from an automated system does not correspond with other laboratory findings. This is the first case of catheter-related blood stream infection due to B. casei identified by 16S rRNA sequence analysis.
Subject(s)
Humans , Middle Aged , Bacteria, Aerobic , Brevibacterium , Central Venous Catheters , Fever , Lymphoma , Lymphoma, B-Cell , Propionibacterium acnes , Rivers , Sequence Analysis , SkinABSTRACT
Apolipoprotein E (APOE) polymorphisms are used as biological markers to assess the risk of cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, and Alzheimer's disease. Consequently, APOE genotyping is one of the most frequently conducted tests in clinical molecular laboratories. Although APOE genotyping may appear to be uncomplicated and a relatively easy test to perform, genotyping errors can still occur due to polymorphisms near codons 112 and 158 in the human APOE gene. Therefore, validation and verification of APOE genotyping assays before clinical use are essential. So far, we have been using the TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assay (Life Technologies, USA). However, recently, the Real-Q ApoE genotyping kit (BioSewoom, Korea) was approved by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, which led us to compare the results obtained from this genotyping kit to those of the TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assay. The Real-Q ApoE genotyping kit yielded correct genotyping results for all six APOE genotypes and provided concordant results with the TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assay in a series of blinded comparison samples. Thus, we validated its use in clinical tests.
Subject(s)
Humans , Alzheimer Disease , Apolipoproteins E , Apolipoproteins , Biomarkers , Cardiovascular Diseases , Codon , Dyslipidemias , Genotype , Real-Time Polymerase Chain ReactionABSTRACT
Apolipoprotein E (APOE) polymorphisms are used as biological markers to assess the risk of cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, and Alzheimer's disease. Consequently, APOE genotyping is one of the most frequently conducted tests in clinical molecular laboratories. Although APOE genotyping may appear to be uncomplicated and a relatively easy test to perform, genotyping errors can still occur due to polymorphisms near codons 112 and 158 in the human APOE gene. Therefore, validation and verification of APOE genotyping assays before clinical use are essential. So far, we have been using the TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assay (Life Technologies, USA). However, recently, the Real-Q ApoE genotyping kit (BioSewoom, Korea) was approved by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, which led us to compare the results obtained from this genotyping kit to those of the TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assay. The Real-Q ApoE genotyping kit yielded correct genotyping results for all six APOE genotypes and provided concordant results with the TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assay in a series of blinded comparison samples. Thus, we validated its use in clinical tests.