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. 2019 Feb 27;57(3):e01563-18.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.01563-18. Print 2019 Mar.

A Resazurin Reduction-Based Assay for Rapid Detection of Polymyxin Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Mathilde Lescat  1   2   3   4 , Laurent Poirel  1   2   5 , Camille Tinguely  1   2   5 , Patrice Nordmann  6   2   5   7
Affiliations

A Resazurin Reduction-Based Assay for Rapid Detection of Polymyxin Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Mathilde Lescat et al. J Clin Microbiol. .

Abstract

A rapid test was developed for identification of polymyxin resistance in nonfermenting bacteria. This test detects viable cells after growth in a medium containing a defined concentration of colistin. The principle of this test is based on the visual detection of the reduction of the resazurin reagent, a viability colorant, as observed by its color change (blue to purple or pink). Its evaluation was performed by using 92 colistin-resistant and colistin-susceptible Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates. Sensitivity and specificity were found to be 100% and 95%, respectively, by comparison with the standard broth microdilution method. The Rapid ResaPolymyxin Acinetobacter/Pseudomonas NP test is inexpensive, easy to perform, highly sensitive and specific, and can be completed in 4 hours. It could be useful in countries facing endemic spread of colistin-resistant nonfermenters.

Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; colistin; rapid diagnostic test; susceptibility testing.

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Figures

FIG 1
FIG 1
Representative results of the Rapid ResaPolymyxin Acinetobacter/Pseudomonas NP test. Noninoculated wells are shown as controls for the medium and the color change (first row). The Rapid Resazurin Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas NP test was performed with a reference colistin-susceptible isolate (second row) and with a reference colistin-resistant isolate (third row) in a reaction without (first column) and with (second column) colistin. The tested isolate grew in the presence and absence of colistin (wells D1 and D2, respectively) and was therefore reported to be colistin-resistant.
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