Evaluation of rapid identification methods for foodborne diarrhea Campylobacter and detection of drug resistance / 中华检验医学杂志

Objective:To explore and evaluate a appropriate suitable method for detection of Campylobacter and antibiotic sensitivity test for foodborne diarrhea in clinical laboratories. Methods:Pre-experiment:a total number of 400 fecal samples of patients with foodborne diarrhea were prospectively collected from the intestinal disease clinic of Beijing Tongren Hospital from September 2017 to January 2018. Double-hole filtration culture method and modified cefoperazone charcoal deoxycholate (CCD) agar culture method were used for fecal culture in micro-aerobic environment for 48 hours, and then suspicious colonies were identified by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. Meanwhile, C. jejuni and C. coli were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qPCR). Large sample verification: 2 062 fecal samples of patients with foodborne diarrhea in three hospitals of different levels in different areas of Beijing were collected for qPCR detection and culture from April 2018 to March 2019. The antimicrobial sensitivity test (AST) of C. jejuni and C. coli was performed according to the disk diffusion method and agar dilution method recommended by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute and National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for Enteric Bacteria. The results of the three detection methods and the consistency of the two antibiotic sensitivity tests were compared. Results:In the pre-experiment, the positive rates of Campylobacter ( jejuni/coli) detected of qPCR, double-hole filtration culture and modified CCD agar culture were 9.0% (36/400), 5.0% (20/400)and 3.5% (14/400), and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.01). The samples with negative result of qPCR were negative by both culture methods. The total positive rates of Campylobacter detected by qPCR was 8.1% (168/ 2 062)including 7.0% (144/2 062) for C. jejuni and 1.2% (24/2 062) for C. coli. The samples with positive qPCR results were cultured by double-hole filtration culture method and the positive rate was 61.9%(104/168), among which, the positive rate of C. jejuni and C. coli were 58.3%(84/144) and 83.3%(20/24) respectively, which was not significantly different from the detection rate and culture positive rate in the pre-test ( P>0.1). The resistance rates of C. jejuni and C. coli to ciprofloxacin were 94.0%(94/100) and 100.0%(24/24) and to erythromycin were 6.0%(6/100) and 33.3%(8/24). The results from two antibiotic sensitivity test methods were consistent (Kappa>0.75). Conclusions:qPCR is rapid, sensitive and easy to operate, so it is suitable for routine development in clinical laboratories. The double-hole filtration culture method is beneficial to the acquisition of strains and is essential for the further study of Campylobacter. There was no significant difference between agar dilution method and disk diffusion method in antibiotic sensitivity test. Campylobacter showed a very high resistance rate to quinolones, which was no longer suitable for the treatment of Campylobacter foodborne diarrhea in Beijing area. Macrocyclic lipid antibiotics should be preferred.

Establishing Quality Control Ranges for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus: A Cornerstone to Develop Reference Strains for Korean Clinical Microbiology Laboratories

Quality control (QC) processes are being performed in the majority of clinical microbiology laboratories to ensure the performance of microbial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing by using ATCC strains. To obtain these ATCC strains, some inconveniences are encountered concerning the purchase cost of the strains and the shipping time required. This study was focused on constructing a database of reference strains for QC processes using domestic bacterial strains, concentrating primarily on antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Three strains (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus) that showed legible results in preliminary testing were selected. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and zone diameters (ZDs) of eight antimicrobials for each strain were determined according to the CLSI M23. All resulting MIC and ZD ranges included at least 95% of the data. The ZD QC ranges obtained by using the CLSI method were less than 12 mm, and the MIC QC ranges extended no more than five dilutions. This study is a preliminary attempt to construct a bank of Korean QC strains. With further studies, a positive outcome toward cost and time reduction can be anticipated.

Antimicrobial susceptibility of Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus isolated from blood and synovial fluid

Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus is a rare human pathogen, but can cause serious extraintestinal infections. Effective antimicrobial agent is required for the therapy, but we have very limited knowledge on the susceptibility of the organism. In this study, the susceptibility of 25 isolates of the organism to 14 antimicrobial agents was tested by an agar dilution method. Antimicrobial agents with low MIC ranges, in micrograms/ml, were: meropenem Y or = 0.25, dirithromycin or = 1, amikacin, ofloxacin, tetracycline and erythromycin < or = 2. The MIC range of cefepime was 0.5-8 micrograms/ml, but those of other beta-lactams were relatively high. All of the isolates were interpreted to be susceptible to cefepime, meropenem, amikacin, gentamicin, ofloxacin, tetracycline and dirithromycin. A significant proportion of the isolates were either intermediate or resistant to ampicillin, cephalothin, cefotaxime, aztreonam, loracarbef and erythromycin. In conclusion, the organism remains susceptible to aminoglycosides and tetracycline. Greater in vitro activity of meropenem, ofloxacin and dirithromycin require clinical evaluation.