Anaerobic bacteria ”hates” air
Anaerobic bacteria constitutes the majority of the human normal microbiota, including 99% of the gut microbiota. However, the normal microbiota can also cause severe disease. The research group for anaerobic bacteria are developing and testing new methods for identification and susceptibility testing of anaerobic bacteria. We are also working with the epidemiology of resistance in anaerobic bacteria and association with cancer. Developing and testing new methods will help to improve treatment of anaerobic infections, to monitor and understand the development of resistance in the normal microbiota and to diagnose patients at risk of colorectal cancer.
Research projects
Bacteraemia with anaerobic bacteria and association with colorectal cancer?
Bacteraemia with specific anaerobic bacteria is believed to be associated with colorectal cancer. This is being investigated in a large cohort study. Anaerobic bacteria from patients with colorectal cancer will be evaluated for special characteristics.The cohort study, “Bacteraemia – a new diagnostic biomarker for colorectal cancer”, including national data on bacteraemia with anaerobic bacteria and colorectal cancer is supported by the NEYE-Foundation (370.650,- DKK): https://www.neye.dk/blog/neye-fonden/
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of anaerobic bacteria – development of a disk diffusion method
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing, using disk diffusion, for anaerobic bacteria is being evaluated to develop a EUCAST method. Collaboration with the EUCAST Laboratory for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing, Centrallasarettet, Växjö, Sverige (Gunnar Kahlmeter and Erika Matuschek).
Typing of the Bacteroides fragilis group with whole genome sequencing
A typing scheme, MLST and cgMLST, is being developed for the Bacteroides fragilis group to be able to establish possible associations with resistance and colorectal cancer.
Research network
Local
• Several clinical departments at Odense University Hospital
• Department and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark (SDU)
National
• All Danish departments of clinical microbiology
• Microbiology & Infection Control, Statens Serum Institut (SSI)
• Department of Pediatrics, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen
International
• EUCAST Laboratory for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing, Centrallasarettet, Växjö, Sweden• UK Anaerobe Reference Unit (UKARU), Public Health Wales Microbiology Cardiff, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, Wales.
• Institute of Clinical Microbiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
• Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
• Department of Microbiology, Université de Caen, Normandie, Caen, France
• Institute of Clinical Hygiene, Medical Microbiology and Infectiology, Paracelsus Medical University, Nuremberg, Germany
Research publications
1. Justesen US, Ellebæk MB, Qvist N, Iachina M, Frimodt-Møller N, Søes LM, Skovgaard S, Lemming L, Samulioniene J, Andersen SL, Dessau RB, Møller JK, Coia JE, Gradel KO. Colorectal cancer and association with anaerobic bacteraemia: A Danish nationwide population-based cohort study. J Infect. 2024;89:106212. DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2024.106212.2. Buhl MEJ, Sunnerhagen T, Join-Lambert O, Morris T, Jeverica S, Assous MV, Toprak NU, Alcalá-Hernandez L, Lienhard R, Veloo ACM, Cruz H, Sóki J, Novak A, Mazzariol A, Wybo I, Dumont Y, Justesen US; ReSuBacfrag Study Group; ESGAI. Antimicrobial resistance surveillance of Bacteroides fragilis isolated from blood cultures, Europe, 2022 (ReSuBacfrag). Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2024;64:107241. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2024.107241.
3. Stubhaug TT, Giske CG, Justesen US, Kahlmeter G, Matuschek E, Sundsfjord A, Skaare D; Nordic Bacteroides AST Study Group. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Bacteroides species by disk diffusion: The NordicAST Bacteroides study. Anaerobe. 2023;81:102743. DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2023.102743.
4. Justesen US, Åhman J, Matuschek E, Kahlmeter G. Assessing the quality of the anaerobic environment - a method developed to support EUCAST disk diffusion of anaerobic bacteria. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2023;42:895-8. DOI: 10.1007/s10096-023-04622-9.
5. Nielsen FD, Skov MN, Sydenham TV, Justesen US. Development and Clinical Application of a Multilocus Sequence Typing Scheme for Bacteroides fragilis Based on Whole-Genome Sequencing Data. Microbiol Spectr. 2023;11:e0511122. DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.05111-22.
