Factors affecting the clinical relevance of Corynebacterium striatum isolated from blood cultures

PLoS One. 2018 Jun 21;13(6):e0199454. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199454. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

This study aimed to identify clinical or microbiological factors affecting the clinical relevance of Corynebacterium striatum isolated from blood cultures. A total of 64 isolates from 51 patients identified as C. striatum by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing were assessed. More than two blood cultures were positive in 25 (48.1%) patients. Diabetes, solid tumor, and a history of previous exposure to antibiotics were more common in patients with multiple positive blood cultures. Charlson comorbidity scores were also higher, and more isolates were recovered after 48 hours of hospital stay in patients with multiple positive blood cultures. Strains recovered from patients with multiple positive blood cultures produced significantly more biofilm. Based on multilocus sequence typing (MLST), sequence type (ST) 20 (31.3%) was the most dominant, followed by ST2 (20.3%) and ST23 (10.9%). There was no relationship between the number of positive blood culture sets and sequence typing. In multivariate analyses, Carlson comorbidity score (odds ratio [OR], 1.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-3.36; P = 0.03) and biofilm formation were associated with multiple positive blood cultures (OR, 17.43; 95% CI, 3.71-81.91; P = 0.03). This study provides evidence that the biofilm phenotype could contribute to determining the clinical significance of C. striatum in patients with severe underlying conditions. The predominance of certain STs suggests the relatedness of C. striatum infection and the nosocomial environment.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Biofilms / growth & development
  • Blood Culture / methods*
  • Corynebacterium / isolation & purification*
  • Corynebacterium / physiology
  • Corynebacterium Infections / blood*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Logistic Models
  • Male
  • Middle Aged

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea (http://www.nrf.re.kr/eng/main), (NRF-2013R1A1A3010554 [to SIJ]) and Chonnam National University Hospital Biomedical Research Institute (http://cnuhcrin.com/website2012/eng/), (HCRI18013-1 [to SJK]). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.