Diagnosis of partially treated culture-negative bacterial meningitis using 16S rRNA universal primers and restriction endonuclease digestion

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained from patients with partially treated and culture-negative meningitis was subjected to PCR using 16S rDNA universal primers followed by restriction endonuclease digestion. In all, 43 patients and 7 controls were enrolled in this study. Twenty-one meningitic samples were positive by PCR. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was the causative agent in seven cases followed by Haemophilus influenzae (four), Streptococcus pneumoniae (two), Listeria monocytogenes (one), Escherichia coli (one), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (one) and Staphylococcus aureus (one). Only two meningitic CSF samples were culture-positive. In this study, PCR using bacterial 16S rDNA specific universal primers was found to be superior to conventional methods in the diagnosis of partially treated meningitis.