Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42426749›Full record

ArticleJournal of translational medicine2026

Nucleosome-targeted host DNA depletion enables automated plasma metagenomic sequencing for sensitive detection of bloodstream pathogens.

Shaohua Zhan, Yafeng Zheng, Tongyao Wu, Xin Hou, Jing Li, Sisi Ma, Wei Gai, Ning Shen, Jiajia Zheng

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of translational medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Shaohua Zhan *Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Rd., Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0001-2962-1623
Yafeng Zheng *WillingMed Technology Beijing Co., Ltd, Beijing, China.
Tongyao WuDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Rd., Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China.
Xin HouDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Rd., Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China.
Jing LiDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Rd., Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China.
Sisi MaDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Rd., Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China.
Wei GaiWillingMed Technology Beijing Co., Ltd, Beijing, China.
Ning ShenDepartment of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China. puh3shenning@bjmu.edu.cn.
Jiajia ZhengDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Rd., Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China. zhengjiajia@bjmu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3939-9875

Funding

Beijing Natural Science Foundation F252052National Key Research and Development Program of China 2025YFC2609702 and 2025YFC2609700Peking University Third Hospital Fund for Interdisciplinary Research BYSYJC2023005State Key Laboratory of Vascular Homeostasis and Remodeling Open Research Fund 2025-VHR-O-SY-21
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBloodstream infections (BSIs) are leading causes of sepsis-related mortality. Although metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) enables culture-independent pathogen detection, its clinical utility in plasma is limited by the overwhelming abundance of host cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and labor-intensive manual workflows.

methodsA plasma host DNA depletion mNGS (HD-mNGS) assay was developed which integrated nucleosome-targeted host DNA depletion with automated DNA extraction and library preparation. Analytical performance was evaluated through limit of detection, linearity, precision, and contamination control. Clinical performance was assessed in a cohort of 107 patients with suspected BSI and benchmarked against blood culture (BC), conventional microbiological testing (CMT), and standard mNGS without host depletion, using a composite clinical reference standard.

resultsNucleosome depletion markedly reduced host DNA background by an average of 66-fold, consequently enriching microbial reads by approximately 46.73-fold. The automated HD-mNGS assay exhibited robust analytical sensitivity, with limits of detection (LoD) ranging from 9.1 to 38 genome equivalents (GE) /mL for bacteria and fungi, and from 283 to 321 GE/mL for viruses and excellent linearity across tested concentrations (R

conclusionsNucleosome-targeted host DNA depletion integrated with a fully automated mNGS platform significantly enhances microbial detection in plasma and provides a scalable approach for standardized BSI diagnostics.

Indexed as

DNAMetagenomicsNucleosomesSequence Analysis, DNAAutomationHigh-Throughput Nucleotide SequencingHumansReproducibility of ResultsSensitivity and SpecificitySepsisDNANucleosomesAutomationBloodstream infectionMetagenomic next-generation sequencingNucleosome-targeted host DNA depletionSepsis

Identifiers

PMID42426749
PMCPMC13640268

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.