病原宏基因组测序在新型冠状病毒检测中的应用与挑战

Applications and challenges of metagenomic next-generation sequencing in the detection of 2019 novel coronavirus

基因测序作为新型冠状病毒确诊的两种方法之一,其检测原理区别于实时荧光定量PCR(RT-PCR),在临床应用中有其优势及挑战。病原宏基因组测序(mNGS)是目前临床上最常用的病原基因测序方法。mNGS对病原广覆盖的特点不但使其对于新型冠状病毒这类新发病原体的快速鉴定具有其他方法学无可比拟的优势,还可以同时为其他病原和混合感染的精准诊断提供依据。但另一方面,由于mNGS操作复杂、检测时间相对较长等原因,在新型冠状病毒的检测上无法实现大范围推广、快速诊断的目的。因此,mNGS可与RT-PCR技术联合使用,实现优势互补。

As one of the two methods for 2019 novel coronavirus(2019-nCoV),gene sequencing is different from quantitative real-time PCR(RT-PCR)in detection principles.Therefore,gene sequencing has its own pros and cons in clinical application.Currently,metagenomic next-generation sequencing(mNGS)is the most commonly used technology in clinical application.Due to its broad coverage of all types of pathogens,mNGS demonstrates incomparable advantage in rapid identification of novel pathogens such as 2019-nCoV.In addition,it can simultaneously identify other pathogens except 2019-nCoV and mixed infections.On the other hand,however,due to the complexity of mNGS and long detection time,it is unlikely to achieve the purpose of wide-range and rapid diagnosis of 2019 n-CoV.Therefore,mNGS can complement RT-PCR to achieve best clinical application.