Evaluation of a rapid, direct sample loading electrochemical AST assay with clinical urine samples
Abstract
Introduction: Phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) is essential, but conventional culture-based methods require 48-72 h, delaying targeted treatment. Here we report a first small study of a direct electrochemical AST system on clinical urine samples. The study aimed to validate the technology and support further research.
Methods: 18 urine and 2 control samples were tested with 3 antibiotics above and below EUCAST breakpoints, resulting in 474 antibiotic-sample combinations grouped as 158 triplets.
Results: Using routine clinical diagnostics as reference method, categorical agreement, sensitivity, and specificity were 87.9% (95% CI, 83.7-91.1%), 0.95 (95% CI, 0.8952-0.9769) and 0.831 (95% CI, 0.7684-0.8786), respectively. The average time to result was 6.0 ± 3.3 h. Its non-species-specific electrochemical principle theoretically allows it to be applied to various sample types and organisms.
Discussion: These results demonstrate that the electrochemical AST platform provides accurate results on the same day directly from patient samples, likely eliminating the need for mandatory pre-culturing.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Horizontal gene transfer in the human gastrointestinal tract: potential spread of antibiotic resistance genes
- Mutation supply and relative fitness shape the genotypes of ciprofloxacin-resistant Escherichia coli
- Genomic Survey of E. coli From the Bladders of Women With and Without Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms
- Characterization of cefotaxime-resistant urinary Escherichia coli from primary care in South-West England 2017–18
- Fitness cost constrains the spectrum of marR mutations in ciprofloxacin-resistant Escherichia coli
- Emerging evidence-based innovative approaches to control catheter-associated urinary tract infection: a review
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.