Advances in the detection of β-lactamase: A review

β-lactamase, an enzyme secreted by bacteria, is the main resistant mechanism of Gram-negative bacteria to β-lactam antibiotics. The resistance of bacteria to β-lactam antibiotics can be evaluated by testing the activity of β-lactamase. Traditional phenotypic detection is a golden principle, but it is time-consuming. In recent years, many new methods have emerged, which improve the efficiency by virtue of their sensitivity, low cost, easy operation, and other advantages. In this paper, we systematically review these researches and emphasize their limits of detection, sample operation, and test duration. Noteworthily, some detection systems can identify the β-lactamase subtype conveniently. We mainly divide these tests into three categories to elaborate their characteristics and application status. Both advantages and disadvantages of these methods are discussed. Additionally, we analyze the recent 5 years published researches to predict the trend of development in this field.