scholarly journals Flow Cytometry Antifungal Susceptibility Testing of Pathogenic Yeasts other than Candida albicans and Comparison with the NCCLS Broth Microdilution Test

2000 ◽  
Vol 44 (10) ◽  
pp. 2752-2758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rama Ramani ◽  
Vishnu Chaturvedi

ABSTRACT Candida species other than Candida albicansfrequently cause nosocomial infections in immunocompromised patients. Some of these pathogens have either variable susceptibility patterns or intrinsic resistance against common azoles. The availability of a rapid and reproducible susceptibility-testing method is likely to help in the selection of an appropriate regimen for therapy. A flow cytometry (FC) method was used in the present study for susceptibility testing ofCandida glabrata, Candida guilliermondii,Candida krusei, Candida lusitaniae,Candida parapsilosis, Candida tropicalis, andCryptococcus neoformans based on accumulation of the DNA binding dye propidium iodide (PI). The results were compared with MIC results obtained for amphotericin B and fluconazole using the NCCLS broth microdilution method (M27-A). For FC, the yeast inoculum was prepared spectrophotometrically, the drugs were diluted in either RPMI 1640 or yeast nitrogen base containing 1% dextrose, and yeast samples and drug dilutions were incubated with amphotericin B and fluconazole, respectively, for 4 to 6 h. Sodium deoxycholate and PI were added at the end of incubation, and fluorescence was measured with a FACScan flow cytometer (Becton Dickinson). The lowest drug concentration that showed a 50% increase in mean channel fluorescence compared to that of the growth control was designated the MIC. All tests were repeated once. The MICs obtained by FC for all yeast isolates except C. lusitaniae were in very good agreement (within 1 dilution) of the results of the NCCLS broth microdilution method. Paired ttest values were not statistically significant (P = 0.377 for amphotericin B; P = 0.383 for fluconazole). Exceptionally, C. lusitaniae isolates showed higher MICs (2 dilutions or more) than in the corresponding NCCLS broth microdilution method for amphotericin B. Overall, FC antifungal susceptibility testing provided rapid, reproducible results that were statistically comparable to those obtained with the NCCLS method.

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (10) ◽  
pp. 3176-3181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Lamoth ◽  
Barbara D. Alexander

Invasive mold infections are life-threatening diseases for which appropriate antifungal therapy is crucial. Their epidemiology is evolving, with the emergence of triazole-resistantAspergillusspp. and multidrug-resistant non-Aspergillusmolds. Despite the lack of interpretive criteria, antifungal susceptibility testing of molds may be useful in guiding antifungal therapy. The standard broth microdilution method (BMD) is demanding and requires expertise. We assessed the performance of a commercialized gradient diffusion method (Etest method) as an alternative to BMD. The MICs or minimal effective concentrations (MECs) of amphotericin B, voriconazole, posaconazole, caspofungin, and micafungin were assessed for 290 clinical isolates of the most representative pathogenic molds (154Aspergillusand 136 non-Aspergillusisolates) with the BMD and Etest methods. Essential agreements (EAs) within ±2 dilutions of ≥90% between the two methods were considered acceptable. EAs for amphotericin B and voriconazole were >90% for most potentially susceptible species. For posaconazole, the correlation was acceptable forMucoromycotinabut Etest MIC values were consistently lower forAspergillusspp. (EAs of <90%). Excellent EAs were found for echinocandins with highly susceptible (MECs of <0.015 μg/ml) or intrinsically resistant (MECs of >16 μg/ml) strains. However, MEC determinations lacked consistency between methods for strains exhibiting mid-range MECs for echinocandins. We concluded that the Etest method is an appropriate alternative to BMD for antifungal susceptibility testing of molds under specific circumstances, including testing with amphotericin B or triazoles for non-Aspergillusmolds (MucoromycotinaandFusariumspp.). Additional study of molecularly characterized triazole-resistantAspergillusisolates is required to confirm the ability of the Etest method to detect voriconazole and posaconazole resistance amongAspergillusspp.


2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. 3236-3242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. Liao ◽  
Robert P. Rennie ◽  
James A. Talbot

ABSTRACT This report presents a fluorescent carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA)-modified microdilution method used for the susceptibility testing of Candida albicans to amphotericin B, fluconazole, ketoconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole, and flucytosine. Four different broth microdilution susceptibility testing methods were simultaneously evaluated at 24 and 48 h. The MICs determined using the CFDA-modified method (MICcfda) were compared to those obtained by the standard broth microdilution method (MICvisual) and a procedure employing the indicator Alamar blue (MICalamar). The reference MIC was determined visually as recommended by the NCCLS M27-A protocol, and then quantified spectrophotometrically following agitation (MICspec). The CFDA-modified microdilution method was demonstrated to effectively determine the MICs for all the antifungal drugs tested at both 24 and 48 h. The results from both the MICspec and MICcfda methods yielded >80% agreement within ±1 dilution and >90% agreement within ±2 dilutions at 24 h in comparison to the reference MICvisual method, respectively. The trailing growth phenomenon that occurs with azole antifungal drugs and many strains of C. albicans did not inhibit the effectiveness of the MICspec and MICcfda methods. The MICspec and MICcfda methods shared 92.8% agreement within ±1 dilution at 24 h and 87.6% agreement within ±1 dilution at 48 h.


1999 ◽  
Vol 45 (10) ◽  
pp. 871-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Dannaoui ◽  
Florence Persat ◽  
Marie-France Monier ◽  
Elisabeth Borel ◽  
Marie-Antoinette Piens ◽  
...  

A comparative study of visual and spectrophotometric MIC endpoint determinations for antifungal susceptibility testing of Aspergillus species was performed. A broth microdilution method adapted from the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) was used for susceptibility testing of 180 clinical isolates of Aspergillus species against amphotericin B and itraconazole. MICs were determined visually and spectrophotometrically at 490 nm after 24, 48, and 72h of incubation, and MIC pairs were compared. The agreement between the two methods was 99% for amphotericin B and ranged from 95 to 98% for itraconazole. It is concluded that spectrophotometric MIC endpoint determination is a valuable alternative to the visual reference method for susceptibility testing of Aspergillus species.Key words: antifungal, susceptibility testing, Aspergillus, spectrophotometric reading.


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