Lab:

Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing

Methods of Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing methods are divided into types based on the principle applied in each
system. They include:
Diffusion Dilution
Stokes method Minimum Inhibitory Concentration
Kirby-Bauer method i) Broth dilution
ii)Agar Dilution
4.1 Disk Diffusion
Reagents for the Disk Diffusion Test
1. Müeller-Hinton Agar Medium
Of the many media available, Müeller-Hinton agar is considered to be the best for routine susceptibility
testing of nonfastidious bacteria for the following reasons:
* It shows acceptable batch-to-batch reproducibility for susceptibility testing.
* It is low in sulphonamide, trimethoprim, and tetracycline inhibitors.
* It gives satisfactory growth of most nonfastidious pathogens.
* A large body of data and experience has been collected concerning susceptibility tests performed
with this medium.
Although Müeller-Hinton agar is reliable generally for susceptibility testing, results obtained with some
batches may, on occasion, vary significantly. If a batch of medium does not support adequate growth of a
test organism, zones obtained in a disk diffusion test will usually be larger than expected and may exceed
the acceptable quality control limits. Only Müeller-Hinton medium formulations that have been tested
according to, and that meet the acceptance limits

Preparation of Müeller-Hinton Agar

Müeller-Hinton agar preparation includes the following steps.
1. Müeller-Hinton agar should be prepared from a commercially available dehydrated base according
to the manufacturer's instructions.
2. Immediately after autoclaving, allow it to cool in a 45 to 50C water bath.
3. Pour the freshly prepared and cooled medium into glass or plastic, flat-bottomed petri dishes on a
level, horizontal surface to give a uniform depth of approximately 4 mm. This corresponds to 60
to 70 ml of medium for plates with diameters of 150 mm and 25 to 30 ml for plates with a diameter
of 100 mm.
4. The agar medium should be allowed to cool to room temperature and, unless the plate is used the
same day, stored in a refrigerator (2 to 8C).
5. Plates should be used within seven days after preparation unless adequate precautions, such as
wrapping in plastic, have been taken to minimize drying of the agar.
6. A representative sample of each batch of plates should be examined for sterility by incubating at 30
to 35C for 24 hours or longer.
2. Preparation of antibiotic stock solutions
Antibitiotics may be received as powders or tablets. It is recommended to obtain pure antibiotics from
commercial sources, and not use injectable solutions. Powders must be accurately weighed and dissolved
in the appropriate diluents to yield the required concentration, using sterile glassware. Standard strains of
stock cultures should be used to evaluate the antibiotic stock solution. If satisfactory, the stock can be
aliquoted in 5 ml volumes and frozen at -20ºC or -60ºC.
Preparation of dried filter paper discs
Whatman filter paper no. 1 is used to prepare discs approximately 6 mm in diameter, which are placed in a
Petri dish and sterilized in a hot air oven.
The loop used for delivering the antibiotics is made of 20 gauge wire and has a diameter of 2 mm. This
delivers 0.005 ml of antibiotics to each disc.
Storage of commercial antimicrobial discs
Cartridges containing commercially prepared paper disks specifically for susceptibility testing are
generally packaged to ensure appropriate anhydrous conditions. Discs should be stored as follows:
* Refrigerate the containers at 8C or below, or freeze at -14C or below, in a nonfrost-free freezer
until needed. Sealed packages of disks that contain drugs from the ß-lactam class should be stored
frozen, except for a small working supply, which may be refrigerated for at most one week. Some
labile agents (e.g., imipenem, cefaclor, and clavulanic acid combinations) may retain greater
stability if stored frozen until the day of use.
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* The unopened disc containers should be removed from the refrigerator or freezer one to two hours
before use, so they may equilibrate to room temperature before opening. This procedure
minimizes the amount of condensation that occurs when warm air contacts cold disks.
* Once a cartridge of discs has been removed from its sealed package, it should be placed in a tightly
sealed, desiccated container. When using a disc-dispensing apparatus, it should be fitted with a
tight cover and supplied with an adequate desiccant. The dispenser should be allowed to warm to
room temperature before opening. Excessive moisture should be avoided by replacing the
desiccant when the indicator changes color.
* When not in use, the dispensing apparatus containing the discs should always be refrigerated.
* Only those discs that have not reached the manufacturer's expiration date stated on the label may
be used. Discs should be discarded on the expiration date.
Turbidity standard for inoculum preparation
To standardize the inoculum density for a susceptibility test, a BaSO4 turbidity standard, equivalent to a
0.5 McFarland standard or its optical equivalent (e.g., latex particle suspension), should be used. A BaSO4
0.5 McFarland standard may be prepared as follows:
1. A 0.5-ml aliquot of 0.048 mol/L BaCl 2 (1.175% w/v BaCl2 . 2H2O) is added to 99.5 ml of 0.18
mol/L H2SO4 (1% v/v) with constant stirring to maintain a suspension.
2. The correct density of the turbidity standard should be verified by using a spectrophotometer with a
1-cm light path and matched cuvette to determine the absorbance. The absorbance at 625 nm
should be 0.008 to 0.10 for the 0.5 McFarland standard.
3. The Barium Sulfate suspension should be transferred in 4 to 6 ml aliquots into screw-cap tubes of
the same size as those used in growing or diluting the bacterial inoculum.

4. These tubes should be tightly sealed and stored in the dark at room temperature.
5. The barium sulfate turbidity standard should be vigorously agitated on a mechanical vortex mixer
before each use and inspected for a uniformly turbid appearance. If large particles appear, the
standard should be replaced. Latex particle suspensions should be mixed by inverting gently, not
on a vortex mixer
6. The barium sulfate standards should be replaced or their densities verified monthly.

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Disc diffusion methods
The Kirby-Bauer and Stokes' methods are usually used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing, with the
Kirby-Bauer method being recommended by the NCCLS (National Committee for Clinical Laboratory
Standards}. The accuracy and reproducibility of this test are dependent on maintaining a standard set of
procedures as described here.
NCCLS is an international, interdisciplinary, non-profit, non-governmental organization composed of
medical professionals, government, industry, healthcare providers, educators etc. It promotes accurate
antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and appropriate reporting by developing standard reference
methods, interpretative criteria for the results of standard AST methods, establishing quality control
parameters for standard test methods, provides testing and reporting strategies that are clinically relevant
and cost-effective

Interpretative criteria of NCCLS are developed based on international collaborative studies and well
correlated with MIC’s and the results have corroborated with clinical data. Based on study results
NCCLS interpretative criteria are revised frequently. NCCLS is approved by FDA-USA and
recommended by WHO.

Procedure for Performing the Disc Diffusion Test

Inoculum Preparation
Growth Method
The growth method is performed as follows
1. At least three to five well-isolated colonies of the same morphological type are selected from an
agar plate culture. The top of each colony is touched with a loop, and the growth is transferred into
a tube containing 4 to 5 ml of a suitable broth medium, such as tryptic soy broth.
2. The broth culture is incubated at 35C until it achieves or exceeds the turbidity of the 0.5
McFarland standard (usually 2 to 6 hours)
3. The turbidity of the actively growing broth culture is adjusted with sterile saline or broth to obtain a
turbidity optically comparable to that of the 0.5 McFarland standard. This results in a suspension
containing approximately 1 to 2 x 108 CFU/ml for E.coli ATCC 25922. To perform this step
properly, either a photometric device can be used or, if done visually, adequate light is needed to
visually compare the inoculum tube and the 0.5 McFarland standard against a card with a white
background and contrasting black lines.

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Direct Colony Suspension Method
1. As a convenient alternative to the growth method, the inoculum can be prepared by making a direct
broth or saline suspension of isolated colonies selected from a 18- to 24-hour agar plate (a
nonselective medium, such as blood agar, should be used). The suspension is adjusted to match
the 0.5 McFarland turbidity standard, using saline and a vortex mixer.
2. This approach is the recommended method for testing the fastidious organisms, Haemophilus spp.,
N. gonorrhoeae, and streptococci, and for testing staphylococci for potential methicillin or
oxacillin resistance.
Inoculation of Test Plates
1. Optimally, within 15 minutes after adjusting the turbidity of the inoculum suspension, a sterile
cotton swab is dipped into the adjusted suspension. The swab should be rotated several times and
pressed firmly on the inside wall of the tube above the fluid level. This will remove excess
inoculum from the swab.
2. The dried surface of a Müeller-Hinton agar plate is inoculated by streaking the swab over the entire
sterile agar surface. This procedure is repeated by streaking two more times, rotating the plate
approximately 60 each time to ensure an even distribution of inoculum. As a final step, the rim of
the agar is swabbed.
3. The lid may be left ajar for 3 to 5 minutes, but no more than 15 minutes, to allow for any excess
surface moisture to be absorbed before applying the drug impregnated disks.
NOTE: Extremes in inoculum density must be avoided. Never use undiluted overnight broth cultures or
other unstandardized inocula for streaking plates.

Application of Discs to Inoculated Agar Plates

1. The predetermined battery of antimicrobial discs is dispensed onto the surface of the inoculated
agar plate. Each disc must be pressed down to ensure complete contact with the agar surface.
Whether the discs are placed individually or with a dispensing apparatus, they must be distributed
evenly so that they are no closer than 24 mm from center to center. Ordinarily, no more than 12
discs should be placed on one 150 mm plate or more than 5 discs on a 100 mm plate. Because
some of the drug diffuses almost instantaneously, a disc should not be relocated once it has come
into contact with the agar surface. Instead, place a new disc in another location on the agar.
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2. The plates are inverted and placed in an incubator set to 35C within 15 minutes after the discs are
applied. With the exception of Haemophilus spp., streptococci and
N. gonorrhoeae, the plates should not be incubated in an increased CO 2 atmosphere, because the
interpretive standards were developed by using ambient air incubation, and CO 2 will significantly
alter the size of the inhibitory zones of some agents.

Reading Plates and Interpreting Results

1. After 16 to 18 hours of incubation, each plate is examined. If the plate was satisfactorily streaked,
and the inoculum was correct, the resulting zones of inhibition will be uniformly circular and there
will be a confluent lawn of growth. If individual colonies are apparent, the inoculum was too light
and the test must be repeated. The diameters of the zones of complete inhibition (as judged by the
unaided eye) are measured, including the diameter of the disc. Zones are measured to the nearest
whole millimeter, using sliding calipers or a ruler, which is held on the back of the inverted petri
plate. The petri plate is held a few inches above a black, nonreflecting background and illuminated
with reflected light. If blood was added to the agar base (as with streptococci), the zones are
measured from the upper surface of the agar illuminated with reflected light, with the cover
removed. If the test organism is a Staphylococcus or Enterococcus spp., 24 hours of incubation are
required for vancomycin and oxacillin, but other agents can be read at 16 to 18 hours. Transmitted
light (plate held up to light) is used to examine the oxacillin and vancomycin zones for light growth
of methicillin- or vancomycin- resistant colonies, respectively, within apparent zones of inhibition.
Any discernable growth within zone of inhibition is indicative of methicillin or vancomycin
resistance.

2. The zone margin should be taken as the area showing no obvious, visible growth that can be
detected with the unaided eye. Faint growth of tiny colonies, which can be detected only with a
magnifying lens at the edge of the zone of inhibited growth, is ignored. However, discrete colonies
growing within a clear zone of inhibition should be subcultured, re-identified, and retested. Strains
of Proteus spp. may swarm into areas of inhibited growth around certain antimicrobial agents.
With Proteus spp., the thin veil of swarming growth in an otherwise obvious zone of inhibition
should be ignored. When using blood-supplemented medium for testing streptococci, the zone of
growth inhibition should be measured, not the zone of inhibition of hemolysis. With trimethoprim
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 and the sulfonamides, antagonists in the medium may allow some slight growth; therefore,
disregard slight growth (20% or less of the lawn of growth), and measure the more obvious margin
to determine the zone diameter.

3. The sizes of the zones of inhibition are interpreted by referring to Tables 2A through 2I (Zone
Diameter Interpretative Standards and equivalent Minimum Inhibitory Concentration Breakpoints)
of the NCCLS M100-S12: Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing:
Twelfth Informational Supplement, and the organisms are reported as either susceptible,
intermediate, or resistant to the agents that have been tested. Some agents may only be reported as
susceptible, since only susceptible breakpoints are given.