Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Without Blood Culture Shows Promise

Magnetic nanoparticles conjugated with innate immunity peptides may shorten the time to obtaining AST results, but the method is not yet ready for clinical use.

In patients with bacteremia, shortening the turnaround time (TAT) for results of antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) would speed administration of appropriate therapy, thereby improving clinical outcomes and decreasing antibiotic selection pressure.

Using the innate immunity peptide synthetic beta-2-glycoprotein 1, conjugated to magnetic nanoparticles, investigators in Korea demonstrated the detection of bacteria at a concentration of 4 CFU/mL in spiked blood samples. They then paired the detection with a PCR-based species-identification method and a rapid culture method in pure medium, followed by ultra-rapid AST (uRAST) determination of minimum inhibitory concentration. There was a 91.3% (84 of 92) match between the novel method and…

Reviewing Author

Hana M. El Sahly, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health

Hana M. El Sahly, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health

Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Without Blood Culture Shows Promise

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Reviewing Author