Correcting a Fundamental Flaw in the Paradigm for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing.

ABSTRACT: The emergence and prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are an increasing cause of death worldwide, resulting in a global 'call to action' to avoid receding into an era lacking effective antibiotics. Despite the urgency, the healthcare industry still relies on a single in vitro bioassay to determine antibiotic efficacy. This assay fails to incorporate environmental factors normally present during host-pathogen interactions in vivo that significantly impact antibiotic efficacy. Here we report that standard antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) failed to detect antibiotics that are in fact effective in vivo; and frequently identified antibiotics that were instead ineffective as further confirmed in mouse models of infection and sepsis. Notably, AST performed in media mimicking hos

SUBMITTER: Ersoy SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5478264 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature