Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry as a tool for rapid diagnosis of potentially toxigenic Corynebacterium species in the laboratory management of diphtheria-associated bacteria

R Konrad; A Berger; I Huber; V Boschert; S Hörmansdorfer; U Busch; M Hogardt; S Schubert; A Sing

doi:10.2807/ese.15.43.19699-en

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Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry as a tool for rapid diagnosis of potentially toxigenic Corynebacterium species in the laboratory management of diphtheria-associated bacteria
R Konrad^1,2,3 , A Berger^1,2,3 , I Huber² , V Boschert^2,4 , S Hörmansdorfer² , U Busch² , M Hogardt^2,5 , S Schubert⁵ , A Sing^1,2
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Affiliations: ¹ National Consiliary Laboratory for Diphtheria, Oberschleißheim, Germany ² Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleißheim, Germany ³ Both authors contributed equally to this paper ⁴ Clinic for Swine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Oberschleißheim, Germany ⁵ Max von Pettenkofer-Institut, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany

Correspondence:
A Sing
andreas.sing lgl.bayern.de
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Citation style for this article: Konrad R, Berger A, Huber I, Boschert V, Hörmansdorfer S, Busch U, Hogardt M, Schubert S, Sing A. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry as a tool for rapid diagnosis of potentially toxigenic Corynebacterium species in the laboratory management of diphtheria-associated bacteria. Euro Surveill. 2010;15(43):pii=19699. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.15.43.19699-en Received: 28 Apr 2010

Abstract

The rapid identification of the potentially toxigenic Corynebacterium species, C. diphtheriae, C. ulcerans and C. pseudotuberculosis is essential for diagnosis and treatment of diphtheria and diphtheria-like diseases. We used matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) in comparison with classical microbiological and molecular methods on 116 Corynebacterium strains. All 90 potentially toxigenic Corynebacterium strains collected by the German National Consiliary Laboratory on Diphtheria in a period of more than ten years were correctly identified by MALDI-TOF MS. We propose an algorithm for fast and reliable diagnosis of diphtheria incorporating MALDI-TOF MS, real-time tox PCR and Elek testing.