A diagnostic host-specific transcriptome response for Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia to guide pediatric patient treatment

Sandra Viz-Lasheras, Alberto Gómez-Carballa, Xabier Bello, Irene Rivero-Calle, Ana Isabel Dacosta, Myrsini Kaforou, Dace Zavadska, EUCLIDS, PERFORM, and DIAMONDS consortia

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Abstract

Mycoplasma pneumoniae causes atypical pneumonia in children and young adults. Its lack of a cell wall makes it resistant to beta-lactams, which are the first-line treatment for typical pneumonia. Current diagnostic tests are time-consuming and have low specificity, leading clinicians to administer empirical antibiotics. Using a LASSO regression simulation approach and blood microarray data from 107 children with pneumonia (including 30 M. pneumoniae) we identify eight different transcriptomic signatures, ranging from 3-10 transcripts, that differentiate mycoplasma pneumonia from other bacterial/viral pneumonias with high accuracy (AUC: 0.84-0.95). Additionally, we demonstrate that existing signatures for broadly distinguishing viral/bacterial infections and viral/bacterial pneumonias are ineffective in distinguishing M. pneumoniae from viral pneumonia. The new signatures are successfully validated in an independent RNAseq cohort of children with pneumonia, demonstrating their robustness. The high sensibility of these signatures presents a valuable opportunity to guide the treatment and management of M. pneumoniae pneumonia patients.

Original languageEnglish
Article number673
JournalNature Communications
Volume16
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jan 2025

Keywords*

  • Humans
  • Pneumonia, Mycoplasma/drug therapy
  • Mycoplasma pneumoniae/genetics
  • Child
  • Transcriptome/genetics
  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Male
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use
  • Adolescent
  • Gene Expression Profiling/methods
  • Infant
  • Pneumonia, Viral/virology

Field of Science*

  • 3.2 Clinical medicine

Publication Type*

  • 1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database

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