Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tartu, Ravila 19, Tartu, 50411, Estonia.
Competence Center on Health Technologies, Tartu, Estonia.
Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrob. 2023 Nov 8;22(1):98. doi: 10.1186/s12941-023-00649-0.
Peritonsillar abscess (PTA) is a severe deep neck space infection with an insufficiently characterized bacterial etiology. We aimed to reveal the bacteria associated with PTA applying next generation sequencing (NGS). Tonsil biopsies and pus samples of 91 PTA patients were analysed applying NGS method.
Over 400 genera and 800 species belonging to 34 phyla were revealed. The most abundant species in both sample types were Streptococcus pyogenes, Fusobacterium necrophorum and Fusobacterium nucleatum. When present, S. pyogenes was normally a predominant species, although it was recovered as a minor population in some samples dominated by F. nucleatum and occasionally F. necrophorum. S. pyogenes and F. necrophorum were the predominant species (> 10% in a community) in 28 (31%) pus samples, while F. nucleatum in 21 (23%) and S. anginosus in 8 (9%) pus samples. We observed no substantial differences between the microbial findings in pus and tonsil biopsies.
The most probable causative agents of PTA according to our NGS-study include Streptococcus pyogenes, Fusobacterium necrophorum and Fusobacterium nucleatum. Some other streptococci (S. anginosus) and anaerobes (Prevotella, Porphyromonas) may contribute to the infection as well. Pus of the peritonsillar abscess is more representative specimen for microbiological examination than the tonsillar tissue. Our results are important in the context of optimizing the handling of the PTA patients.
扁桃体周脓肿（PTA）是一种严重的深部颈部间隙感染，其细菌病因尚未充分阐明。我们旨在应用下一代测序（NGS）方法揭示与 PTA 相关的细菌。对 91 例 PTA 患者的扁桃体活检和脓液样本进行 NGS 方法分析。
共揭示了 34 个门的 400 多个属和 800 多种物种。两种样本类型中最丰富的物种是化脓性链球菌、坏死梭杆菌和核梭杆菌。当存在时，化脓性链球菌通常是优势种，尽管在一些以核梭杆菌和偶尔坏死梭杆菌为主的样本中，它是作为次要种群回收的。化脓性链球菌和坏死梭杆菌是 28 例（31%）脓液样本中（>10%的群落）的主要物种，而核梭杆菌是 21 例（23%）和咽峡炎链球菌 8 例（9%）脓液样本中的主要物种。我们观察到脓液和扁桃体活检的微生物发现之间没有实质性差异。
根据我们的 NGS 研究，PTA 最可能的病原体包括化脓性链球菌、坏死梭杆菌和核梭杆菌。其他一些链球菌（咽峡炎链球菌）和厌氧菌（普雷沃菌、卟啉单胞菌）也可能参与感染。扁桃体周脓肿的脓液比扁桃体组织更能代表微生物学检查的标本。我们的结果在优化 PTA 患者处理方面具有重要意义。
