USE OF AMPLIFICATION AND SEQUENCING OF THE 16S RIBOSOMAL-RNA GENE TO DIAGNOSE MYCOPLASMA-PNEUMONIAE OSTEOMYELITIS IN A PATIENT WITH HYPOGAMMAGLOBULINEMIA

A splenectomized patient with hypogammaglobulinemia who was hospitaliz ed because of a high-grade fever subsequently developed osteomyelitis. Although pus cultures were repeatedly sterile, polymerase chain react ion (PCR) analysis with use of 16S rRNA gene primers with a broad spec ificity detected bacterial DNA in pus samples. Subsequent nucleotide b ase determination of the amplified DNA demonstrated that the detected DNA was derived from Mycoplasma pneumoniae. The results were confirmed by a PCR assay with use of M. pneumoniae-specific primers. Our findin gs confirm the usefulness of 16S rRNA gene amplification and analysis in the rapid and specific diagnosis of infectious osteomyelitis and re affirm the role of such methods in detecting fastidious or uncultivabl e pathogens.