Clinical Value of Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing in Early Diagnosis of Peritoneal Dialysis-Associated Peritonitis: A Randomised Controlled Observational Trial.

Aim: While metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is a high-throughput diagnostic tool capable of rapidly and accurately identifying pathogenic microorganisms, predicting their antibiotic resistance/susceptibility profiles, its clinical utility in peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis (PDAP) remains unvalidated. This study aims to evaluate its ability to enable early pathogen detection and predict antibiotic susceptibility, thereby informing optimised treatment strategies.

Method: A prospective randomised controlled trial was conducted in patients diagnosed with PDAP. Participants were divided into two groups: (1) the culture & mNGS group (n = 78), where both conventional dialysis effluent culture and mNGS were performed, and clinicians had access to mNGS results; and (2) the only culture group (n = 76), where clinicians relied solely on culture results. All patients were examined for mNGS, but only patients in the culture & mNGS group had mNGS results that were known to their clinicians. Empirical intraperitoneal antimicrobial therapy was initiated for all patients, with subsequent regimen adjustments based on clinical judgement, culture reports, and/or mNGS findings. The study duration spanned from the initiation of anti-infective therapy to 3 months post-treatment. Outcomes included the comparative performance of culture versus mNGS, mNGS-based antimicrobial resistance prediction accuracy, and the clinical impact on treatment decisions.

Results: The culture & mNGS group demonstrated a significantly higher pathogen detection rate than the only culture group (p = 0.001). mNGS identified pathogens faster than conventional culture (p < 0.001) and detected polymicrobial infections at a higher rate (p = 0.018). mNGS achieved 88.94% accuracy in predicting antimicrobial resistance. No significant difference was observed between the culture & mNGS group and the only culture group in time to normalisation of dialysis effluent leukocyte counts (p = 0.31).

Conclusion: Integrating mNGS into diagnostic workflows enhances pathogen detection efficiency, accelerates results, and improves the precision of antimicrobial therapy. These advantages suggest that mNGS-guided strategies may optimise clinical management of PDAP.

Trial registration: ChiClinicalTrials.gov identifier: CTR2300070995 (28/04/2023).