bWith the increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, rapid identification of the pathogen and its individual antibiotic resistance is crucial to ensure adequate antiinfective treatment at the earliest time point. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry for the identification of bacteria directly from the blood culture bottle has been widely established; however, there is still an urgent need for new methods that permit rapid resistance testing. Recently, a semiquantitative MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry-based method for the prediction of antibiotic resistance was described. We evaluated this method for detecting nonsusceptibility against two -lactam and two non--lactam antibiotics. A collection of 30 spiked blood cultures was tested for nonsusceptibility against gentamicin and ciprofloxacin. Furthermore, 99 patient-derived blood cultures were tested for nonsusceptibility against cefotaxime, piperacillin-tazobactam, and ciprofloxacin in parallel with MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry identification from the blood culture fluid. The assay correctly classified all isolates tested for nonsusceptibility against gentamicin and cefotaxime. One misclassification for ciprofloxacin nonsusceptibility and five misclassifications for piperacillin-tazobactam nonsusceptibility occurred. Identification of the bacterium and prediction of nonsusceptibility was possible within approximately 4 h.
The early initiation of adequate antibiotic therapy is known to be an important parameter for the outcome of septic patients (1-3). Therefore, empirical treatment must be administered as soon as sepsis is diagnosed; however, with the growing burden of antimicrobial resistance, affecting the sepsis-causing pathogen with an empirical therapy is becoming increasingly difficult. Prediction of antibiotic resistance at the earliest time point is necessary to ensure the best available treatment for the patient and to avoid the extensive use of broad-spectrum therapy. One approach to shorten the time to result for antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) is the use of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionizationtime of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for identification and resistance testing. The most common approach using mass spectrometry is the detection of -lactamases with a functional assay that measures their hydrolysis products (4-9). This test provides results within 1 to 3 h, but, by its very nature, it is limited to the detection of -lactamase-mediated resistance. Recently, Lange et al. (10) described a MALDI-TOF MS method that allows for resistance testing independent of the underlying mechanism. The MALDI Biotyper antibiotic susceptibility test rapid assay (MBT-ASTRA) relies on a semiquantitative measurement of bacterial proteins. Bacterial cells are incubated in culture medium with or without antibiotics. Subsequently, the cells are lysed and spiked with an internal standard. Mass spectra from the two setups are acquired and normalized, and their peak intensit...