In this study, we evaluated the influence of distinct bacterial growth media on detection of carbapenemase hydrolysis by matrixassisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. False-negative results were observed for OXA-25-, OXA-26-, and OXA-72-producing Acinetobacter baumannii isolates grown on MacConkey agar medium. The other culture media showed 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity for detecting carbapenemase.
Rapid detection of carbapenemase-producing isolates is important for clinical management of infected patients and implementation of infection control measures. The detection of different classes of carbapenemase activity has been assessed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) (1-4). In this study, we evaluated the influence of distinct growth culture media on detection of carbapenemase activity by MALDI-TOF MS using Vitek MS equipment (bioMérieux, Brazil).(This study was presented in part as poster D-1532 at the 54th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Washington, DC, 5 to 9 September 2014 [5].)A total of 61 carbapenemase-producing and 32 non-carbapenemase-producing Gram-negative clinical isolates previously characterized by PCR and DNA sequencing were grown on MuellerHinton agar (MHA), blood agar (BA), MacConkey agar (MAC), and chromID CPS agar (CPS) (bioMérieux, Brazil). Sixty-one carbapenemase-producing clinical isolates resistant to at least one carbapenem compound were evaluated, including Klebsiella pneumoniae producers of IMP-1 (n ϭ 6), KPC-2 (n ϭ 25), NDM-1 (n ϭ 1), and BKC-1 (n ϭ 2), Enterobacter cloacae producers of VIM-1 (n ϭ 1), IMP-1 (n ϭ 1), and KPC-2 (n ϭ 1), KPC-2-producing Escherichia coli (n ϭ 1), Serratia marcescens producers of KPC-2 (n ϭ 13) and IMP-1 (n ϭ 1), SPM-1-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n ϭ 5), and Acinetobacter baumannii producers of OXA-25 (n ϭ 1), OXA-26 (n ϭ 1), OXA-72 (n ϭ 1), and OXA-58 (n ϭ 1). In addition, 32 non-carbapenemase-producing bacterial isolates, including Enterobacteriaceae (n ϭ 29), P. aeruginosa (n ϭ 1), and A. baumannii (n ϭ 2) isolates, were tested as negative controls. The MALDI-TOF MS assay was performed by incubating a 1-l loop of fresh bacterial colonies from MHA, BA, MAC, or CPS in 100 l of buffer-adjusted solution (20 mM Tris-HCl [pH 6.8]) with 0.25 mg/ml ertapenem (ETP) (Merck Sharp & Dohme, NJ) (6). The samples were analyzed after 2 and 4 h of incubation at 37°C. One microliter of the supernatant was spotted onto a MALDI target plate, followed by 1 l of ␣-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (HCCA) matrix solution (bioMérieux) on each spot, and allowed to dry at room temperature. The mass spectrum was obtained by using the Vitek MS instrument operating in linear positive-ion mode and using SARAMIS version 4.1.2 software (bioMérieux). For each isolate, mass spectra were acquired by accumulating 200 laser shots at 50% to 55% laser power in the m/z range of 400 to 600 Da after instrument calibration using the HCCA matrix peaks ( ϩ ) at 497 m...