[A bioluminescent method of determining the sensitivity of microflora to antibiotics]

A bioluminescent rapid method (a three-hour test) has been developed to assess the susceptibility of microflora to antibiotics. It is based on comparison of intracellular ATP content in a sample (pus) after 3 h incubation at 37 degrees C in liquid culture medium (dilution: sample/culture medium--1:9) on a shaker in the presence and absence (control) of a single antibiotic concentration. A criterion has been offered for quantitative estimation of antibiotic susceptibility of microorganisms. The authors have optimized the measurements of intracellular ATP by the rapid bioluminescent method using immobilized firefly luciferase-based ATP reagent. The results of the method are in good correlation with those of the standard agar diffusion technique.