At a Glance
- Researchers from the Technical University of Munich and Imperial College London have developed a method that detects bacterial infections in minutes using mass spectrometry instead of traditional culture techniques.
- The technique identifies bacterial metabolic products as biomarkers, enabling the detection of over 230 medically relevant species in tissue and stool samples.
- By analyzing 359 biomarkers, the method rapidly pinpoints bacterial presence in complex clinical samples, offering a significant improvement over slow diagnostic approaches.
- This approach can identify bacteria linked to diseases like stomach cancer, pneumonia, and sepsis without requiring time-consuming lab cultivation.
- The team aims to expand their database to include over 1,400 pathogens, making personalized, rapid diagnostics a practical tool for modern healthcare.
Researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Imperial College London have developed a groundbreaking method to detect bacterial infections in clinical samples rapidly. This new approach could revolutionize diagnostics by reducing the time required for bacterial identification from several days to just minutes, potentially speeding up patient treatment. The study, published in Nature Communications, leverages mass spectrometry to detect bacterial metabolic products directly in tissue and stool samples.
The innovative technique identifies biomarkers, specific metabolic products that bacteria produce. These biomarkers are part of a database that includes over 230 medically significant bacterial species. The team identified 359 markers linked to different bacterial species. It used them to detect the presence of bacteria in complex samples like cancerous and healthy gastrointestinal tissues and fecal samples. This method offers a faster and more efficient alternative to traditional culture-based techniques.
Mass spectrometry, a powerful tool that analyzes the chemical composition of samples, is central to this approach. By measuring the unique metabolic products of bacteria, the researchers can identify specific pathogens without the need to culture them in the lab. This method can detect dangerous bacteria responsible for serious conditions like stomach cancer, pneumonia, meningitis, and even blood poisoning, all in just a fraction of the time compared to conventional methods.
The researchers are working to expand their database to include over 1,400 known bacterial pathogens. The goal is to refine this method for widespread use in clinical settings, which could lead to personalized medicine where treatments are tailored to the specific bacteria detected in patients. This advancement marks a significant step in microbiology and medical diagnostics, offering hope for faster, more accurate diagnoses and treatments.
References
- Technical University Munich. (2025, May 6). Mass spectrometry method identifies pathogens within minutes instead of days. Phys.Org; Technical University Munich. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-mass-spectrometry-method-pathogens-minutes.html
- Chen, W., Qiu, M., Paizs, P., Sadowski, M., Ramonaite, T., Zborovsky, L., Mejias-Luque, R., Janßen, K.-P., Kinross, J., Goldin, R. D., Rebec, M., Liebeke, M., Takats, Z., McKenzie, J. S., & Strittmatter, N. (2025). Universal, untargeted detection of bacteria in tissues using metabolomics workflows. Nature Communications, 16(1), 165. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55457-7
