A rapid bacterial labeling method for phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing

Area of Science:

• Clinical microbiology
• Diagnostic innovation
• Drug resistance research

Background:

• Bacterial infections present diagnostic and treatment challenges due to rising multidrug-resistant pathogens.
• Current Antimicrobial Susceptibility Tests (AST) require lengthy bacterial isolation, delaying patient care and antibiotic stewardship.
• Faster AST results are crucial for improved patient outcomes, effective antibiotic use, and cost reduction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel, rapid diagnostic method called Bacteria Labeling Antibiotic Susceptibility Test (BLAST).
• To assess BLAST's performance in determining antibiotic susceptibility for common urinary tract infection pathogens.
• To compare BLAST results with established reference methods for accuracy and speed.

Main Methods:

• BLAST utilizes metabolic labeling and click-chemistry to detect newly synthesized bacterial proteins.
• Antibiotic inhibition of protein biosynthesis is measured using a fluorescent reader in a 96-well format.
• The method was tested on various bacterial growth conditions, including bacteria-contrived urine samples, across a range of inocula.

Main Results:

• BLAST successfully determined Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values for Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens against eleven antibiotics within 6 hours.
• MIC values obtained via BLAST aligned with those from the reference broth microdilution (rBMD) method and CLSI quality control ranges.
• The method demonstrated agreement with rBMD results when tested on bacteria-contrived urine cultures.

Conclusions:

• The Bacteria Labeling Antibiotic Susceptibility Test (BLAST) offers a rapid and scalable solution for AST.
• This innovative approach can significantly reduce the time to results for bacterial susceptibility testing.
• BLAST has the potential to improve patient management and antibiotic stewardship in clinical settings.