Evaluation of an automated rapid phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing (ASTar, Q-linea AB) applied directly on blood cultures bottles positive for Gram-negative pathogens

Isabella Banchini; Eva Caterina Borgatti; Claudio Foschi; Tiziana Lazzarotto; Simone Ambretti

Evaluation of an automated rapid phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing (ASTar, Q-linea AB) applied directly on blood cultures bottles positive for Gram-negative pathogens

New Microbiol. 2024 May;47(1):107-110.

Authors

Isabella Banchini¹, Eva Caterina Borgatti¹, Claudio Foschi^{1

2}, Tiziana Lazzarotto^{1

2}, Simone Ambretti^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Section of Microbiology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Italy.
² Microbiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Italy.

PMID: 38700891

Abstract

We evaluated the performance of a new rapid phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility test (ASTar; Q-linea AB) on Gram-negative bacilli, directly from positive blood cultures bottles. MIC values obtained by the routine reference method (Microscan, Beckman Coulter) were compared to the ones provided by the tested method (ASTar). ASTar demonstrated an overall essential agreement of 98% and a category agreement of 96.1%. The overall rate of major errors and very major errors was 2.5% and 3.3%, respectively. ASTar can represent a rapid, simple, and reliable method to speed up information about antimicrobial susceptibility of Gram-negative pathogens from positive blood culture bottles.

Keywords: Antimicrobial susceptibility testing; MIC; antimicrobial resistance; blood cultures; rapid AST.

Publication types

Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents* / pharmacology
Bacteremia / microbiology
Blood Culture* / methods
Gram-Negative Bacteria* / drug effects
Gram-Negative Bacteria* / isolation & purification
Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections* / microbiology
Humans
Microbial Sensitivity Tests*
Phenotype

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents