Analysis of characteristics of joint fluid microbiome in knee osteoarthritis patients using long-read metagenomic sequencing
10.3760/cma.j.cn115530-20250215-00065
- VernacularTitle:膝骨关节炎患者关节液微生物组特征的长读长宏基因组测序分析研究
- Author:
Xiaofeng CHANG
1
;
Xiangxiang SUN
;
Jianbing MA
;
Liqiang ZHI
Author Information
1. 西安医学院研究生工作部，西安 710021
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Knee osteoarthritis;
Infection;
Synovial fluid;
Microbiome;
Nanopore sequencing
- From:
Chinese Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma
2025;27(11):952-959
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To detect the microbial signals in the synovial fluid from knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients using long-read metagenomic sequencing and assess the impact of intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate on the detection.Methods:This retrospective study enrolled 28 KOA patients [set as a KOA group: 13 males, 15 females; mean age of (65.5±5.7) years] who had undergone primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) or unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) at Department of Knee Joint Surgery, Honghui Hospital between January 2021 and January 2023. At the same time, samples of instrument cleaning water used for the 28 KOA patients were collected (set as a rinse solution group), and the knee synovial fluid was collected from 10 healthy adult volunteers [set as a control group: 5 males and 5 females; mean age of (29.7±12.1) years]. The KOA patients were stratified into an injection group ( n=5) and a non-injection group ( n=23) according to the history of injection of sodium hyaluronate within 6 months before operation. All samples were subjected to standard procedures for nucleic acid extraction and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) metagenomic sequencing to compare microbial taxa and detection frequencies. Results:No periprosthetic joint infections or infection-related clinical events occurred in the KOA patients during the 12-month postoperative follow-up. A total of 10 microbial species (30 isolates) were identified in the KOA synovial fluid (5 Gram-positive and 5 Gram-negative). The species with the top 5 detection rates were Escherichia coli (20.0%), Propionibacterium spp. (20.0%), Staphylococcus spp. (16.7%), Acinetobacter spp. (13.3%), and Pseudomonas spp. (6.7%). From the samples in the rinse solution group, 9 species (11 isolates) were detected, reflecting background contamination. All the joint fluid from the healthy volunteers in the control group was negative. Six species of microorganisms were detected in the injection group while 3 species in the non-injection group, showing a statistically significant difference ( P<0.001). Conclusions:Long-read metagenomic sequencing detects diverse microbial signatures in the synovial fluid from KOA patients, and preoperative injection of sodium hyaluronate is associated with increased detection of microbial species.
