Enzymatic Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing with Bacteria Identification in 30 min

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Microbiology
• Clinical Diagnostics

Background:

• Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is crucial for effective antibiotic prescription.
• Current AST methods are time-consuming, exceeding 16 hours.
• Simultaneous bacterial identification and susceptibility profiling are needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a rapid enzymatic AST (enzyAST) method.
• To utilize β-d-glucuronidase as a biomarker for pathogen identification and susceptibility profiling.
• To achieve binary AST results within 30 minutes.

Main Methods:

• Enzymatic assay employing β-d-glucuronidase as a biomarker.
• Testing susceptibility of *Escherichia coli* strains to three antibiotics.
• Statistical analysis of enzymatic activity at varying antibiotic concentrations to determine minimal inhibitory concentrations.

Main Results:

• EnzyAST successfully identified pathogens and profiled phenotypic susceptibilities simultaneously.
• Binary AST results were obtained in 30 minutes.
• Pilot studies demonstrated the method's applicability and potential for determining minimal inhibitory concentrations.

Conclusions:

• EnzyAST offers a significantly faster alternative to standard AST methods.
• The enzyAST approach holds promise for direct pathogen susceptibility evaluation in clinical samples.
• Further development could facilitate evidence-based therapeutic decisions.