bAccurate detection of metallo--lactamase (MBL)-producing Pseudomonas spp. and Acinetobacter spp. became very important with the increasing prevalence of carbapenem-nonsusceptible clinical isolates. The performance of phenotypic MBL detection methods may depend on the types of MBL and the characteristics of the isolates. A high false-positive rate is a problem with EDTA-based MBL detection methods. We evaluated the performance of double-disk potentiation tests (DDPTs) and disk potentiation tests (DPTs) with dipicolinic acid (DPA) using 44 isolates of Pseudomonas spp. and Acinetobacter spp. producing IMP-1-like, VIM-2-like, and SIM-1 type MBLs. Also, we characterized P. aeruginosa isolates with positive imipenem (IPM)-DPA DDPT, but negative meropenem (MEM)-DPA DDPT, and determined possibility of improving a DDPT by using MacConkey agar. Among five different DDPT methods, the IPM-DPA 250-g method showed the highest sensitivity (97.7%) and specificity (100%). Among four DPT tests, the highest sensitivity (100%) was shown by the IPM-EDTA 1,900-g disk method, but the specificity was very low (11.4%). Five of six P. aeruginosa isolates with false-negative DDPTs with MEM-DPA 250-g disks carried bla IMP-6, and the high level resistance to MEM (MIC > 512 g/ml) was reduced by the presence of phenylalanine arginine -naphtylamide. Improvement of DDPTs was observed when MacConkey agar was used instead of Mueller-Hinton agar. In conclusion, DPA is a better MBL inhibitor than EDTA for detection of Pseudomonas spp. and Acinetobacter spp. with IMP-1-like, VIM-2-like, and SIM-1-type MBLs. In DPA DDPTs, IPM disks perform better than MEM disks when the isolates are highly resistant to MEM due to the overexpression of efflux pumps. C arbapenems are often used as "antibiotics of last resort" when patients with infections become gravely ill or are suspected of harboring resistant bacteria (14). However, carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacilli have been increasingly reported worldwide. In Korea, carbapenem-resistant isolates of Enterobacteriaceae remains very rare, but during the period of 2001 to 2009, imipenem (IPM)-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp. increased from 17 to 26% and from 5 to 51%, respectively (10). A significant proportion of the resistance in P. aeruginosa is due to the production of VIM-2-like and IMP-1-like metallo--lactamase (MBL), whereas in Acinetobacter spp. the majority are due to the production of OXA-type carbapenemase, although VIM-2-like, IMP-1-like, and SIM-1 enzyme-producing isolates have also been detected (8).Various inhibitor-based methods are commonly used to detect MBLs, but these techniques are not highly sensitive or highly specific. A disk potentiation test (DPT) is also called a combined disk test. A DPT using imipenem (IPM) and EDTA (IPM-EDTA DPT) showed a high false-positive rate with Acinetobacter spp. due to growth inhibition by EDTA alone (20). A double-disk potentiation test (DDPT) is also known as a double-disk synergy test. To reduce false-positive results from t...