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Use of Artificial Sputum Medium to Test Antibiotic Efficacy Against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Conditions More Relevant to the Cystic Fibrosis Lung
Published on: June 5, 2012
Comparative diffusion assay to assess efficacy of topical antimicrobial agents against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in
Fabien Aujoulat1, Françoise Lebreton, Sara Romano
1UMR5119, Unité de Bactériologie, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université Montpellier 1, 15 Avenue Charles Flahault, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Background:
Severely burned patients may develop life-threatening nosocomial infections due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can exhibit a high-level of resistance to antimicrobial drugs and has a propensity to cause nosocomial outbreaks. Antiseptic and topical antimicrobial compounds constitute major resources for burns care but in vitro testing of their activity is not performed in practice.
Results:
In our burn unit, a P. aeruginosa clone multiresistant to antibiotics colonized or infected 26 patients over a 2-year period. This resident clone was characterized by PCR based on ERIC sequences. We investigated the susceptibility of the resident clone to silver sulphadiazine and to the main topical antimicrobial agents currently used in the burn unit. We proposed an optimized diffusion assay used for comparative analysis of P. aeruginosa strains. The resident clone displayed lower susceptibility to silver sulphadiazine and cerium silver sulphadiazine than strains unrelated to the resident clone in the unit or unrelated to the burn unit.
Conclusions:
The diffusion assay developed herein detects differences in behaviour against antimicrobials between tested strains and a reference population. The method could be proposed for use in semi-routine practice of medical microbiology.
Insights
A multiresistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa clone caused infections in burn patients. This clone showed reduced susceptibility to silver sulphadiazine, highlighting the need for routine antimicrobial susceptibility testing in burn care.
Area of Science:
- Medical Microbiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Burn Care
Background:
- Nosocomial infections caused by multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa pose a significant threat to severely burned patients.
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa outbreaks are a concern in burn units, necessitating effective antimicrobial strategies.
- Current practices often lack in vitro testing for topical antimicrobial efficacy in burns management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the antimicrobial susceptibility of a multiresistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa clone isolated from burn patients.
- To evaluate the efficacy of silver sulphadiazine and other topical antimicrobials against this clone.
- To develop and validate an optimized diffusion assay for comparative antimicrobial susceptibility testing.
Main Methods:
- Characterization of the P. aeruginosa clone using ERIC sequence-based PCR.
- Susceptibility testing of the clone against silver sulphadiazine and other topical antimicrobials.
- Development and application of an optimized diffusion assay for strain comparison.
Main Results:
- A multiresistant P. aeruginosa clone was identified, colonizing or infecting 26 patients over two years.
- The resident clone exhibited lower susceptibility to silver sulphadiazine and cerium silver sulphadiazine compared to other strains.
- The optimized diffusion assay successfully differentiated the susceptibility profiles of P. aeruginosa strains.
Conclusions:
- The developed diffusion assay can detect variations in antimicrobial susceptibility among P. aeruginosa strains.
- This method holds potential for semi-routine implementation in medical microbiology laboratories.
- Improved susceptibility testing could enhance the management of infections in burn patients.
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