Rapid detection of bacteria using mass spectrometric analysis

1. A method for detection of the presence or absence of particular bacteria in a clinical sample, the method comprising:

(i) enriching the clinical sample by culturing the bacteria present in the clinical sample for a period of time less than 6 hours such that pre-modification biomarkers are produced in the sample, wherein enrichment is carried out by:

inoculating the clinical sample into a broth;

culturing the clinical sample-containing broth for a period of less than 6 hours; and

separating an enriched clinical sample from the sample-containing broth by centrifugation, and

wherein said broth is prepared by a method comprising:

reconstituting a powdered microbiological culture material in water;

autoclaving the reconstituted solution at a temperature between 80 and 150° C.;

leaving the solution to cool in the autoclave to a pre-determined temperature of between 60 and 90° C.;

removing the solution from the autoclave when the predetermined temperature is reached; and

allowing the solution to continue cooling at room temperature;

(ii) analysing the enriched clinical sample by mass spectrometry, to obtain clinical biomarker profile data, wherein the clinical biomarker profile data comprises peaks of specific masses in the region below 1500 Da, corresponding to pre-modification biomarkers produced by bacteria in the clinical sample;

(iii) correlating the clinical sample biomarker profile data with reference data to look for peaks having specific masses in the region below 1500 Da common to the clinical sample biomarker profile data and to the reference data, to determine the presence of absence of said particular bacteria in the sample;

wherein a match between the masses of the peaks of the clinical sample biomarker profile data the reference data indicates the presence of a particular bacteria in the clinical sample,

wherein the reference data relates to pre-modification biomarkers represented by peaks having specific masses produced by a reference sample of said particular bacteria which has been cultured for less than six hours,

and wherein the concentration of bacteria in the clinical sample before enrichment is about 10 7 cfu/ml or below.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the culturing in step (i) is carried out for four hours or less.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the culturing in step (i) is carried out for two hours or less.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the clinical sample is taken from a human patient.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said clinical sample biomarker profile data is proteomic profile data.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the analysis by mass spectrometry is performed using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein culturing the clinical sample comprises incubation in a water bath.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the centrifugation step comprises:

dividing the clinical sample-containing broth into a plurality of aliquots;

centrifuging the aliquots;

discarding the resultant supernatants;

re-suspending the pellets in water;

pooling the resultant pellets; and

centrifuging a suspension of the pooled pellets, to separate the pellet containing the enriched clinical sample.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the broth is a Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) broth, a Mueller-Hinton Broth, an Anaerobic broth or a Nutrient Broth.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the analysis by mass spectrometry is performed using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, and further wherein the culturing in step (i) is carried out for four hours or less.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the culturing in step (i) is carried out for two hours or less.

12. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the enriched clinical sample is obtained by

inoculating a bacteria-containing clinical sample into a broth,

culturing the clinical sample-containing broth for a period of 4 hours or less to produce an enriched clinical sample, and

separating the enriched clinical sample from the sample-containing broth by centrifugation.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein culturing the clinical sample comprises incubation in a water bath.

14. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the centrifugation step comprises

dividing the clinical sample-containing broth into a plurality of aliquots,

centrifuging the aliquots,

discarding the resultant supernatants,

re-suspending the pellets in water,

pooling the resultant pellets, and

centrifuging a suspension of the pooled pellets to produce the enriched clinical sample.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the particular bacteria being detected is selected from the group consisting of Staphylococci, Clostridium, Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Pseudomonas, Shigella, Neisseria, Klebsiella, Vibrio, Legionella, Haemophilus influenzae, Helicobacter pylori, Bacillus, Listeria , and bacteria causing tuberculosis and leprosy.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the particular bacteria being detected is a Gram-positive bacteria.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the particular bacteria being detected is a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).