Nanomotion Detection Method for Testing Antibiotic Resistance and Susceptibility of Slow‐Growing Bacteria

Abstract

Infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms and are often severe. Time to fully characterize an infectious agent after sampling and to find the right antibiotic and dose are important factors in the overall success of a patient's treatment. Previous results suggest that a nanomotion detection method could be a convenient tool for reducing antibiotic sensitivity characterization time to several hours. Here, the application of the method for slow-growing bacteria is demonstrated, taking Bordetella pertussis strains as a model. A low-cost nanomotion device is able to characterize B. pertussis sensitivity against specific antibiotics within several hours, instead of days, as it is still the case with conventional growth-based techniques. It can discriminate between resistant and susceptible B. pertussis strains, based on the changes of the sensor's signal before and after the antibiotic addition. Furthermore, minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations of clinically applied antibiotics are compared using both techniques and the suggested similarity is discussed.

A perspective view on the nanomotion detection of living organisms and its features

“…For most experiments, the use of carefully calibrated slow gravity driven flow 41,57 is advisable, to ensure that the fluid flow does not interfere with the motion of the cantilever. Alternatively, the injection of the medium can be controlled by the use of syringes or low‐noise pumps (mechanical or peristaltic) 58 . In the proposed experiments, the medium change was performed using low‐noise pumps through tubes in custom analysis chambers 41 …”

Nanomotion Detection-Based Rapid Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing

“…Since bacteria adhesive properties play an important role in biofilm formation, several teams have used AFM to explore this parameter on various surfaces [ 89 , 90 , 91 ]. The very same technique can be used to monitor the presence of specific molecules on bacterial surfaces [ 92 , 93 , 94 ].…”

Nanomechanical Sensors as a Tool for Bacteria Detection and Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing

“…By using the same nanomechanical AST, bacterium Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis) and tuberculous bacillus Calmette-Guérin (Mycobacteria) were investigated as a model of slow-growing pathogens. Cantilevers coated with B. pertussis allowed the characterization of the sensitivity profile of the bacterium for many antibiotics in several hours (Villalba et al, 2018). The tuberculous bacillus Calmette-Guérin (a weakened strain of Mycobacterium bovis) and the non-tuberculous Mycobacterium abcessus were also tested, obtaining an MIC and a minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) for different antimicrobials (bactericidal and bacteriostatic) in agreement with standard methods, demonstrating the feasibility of this technology for the fast assessment of slowly growing pathogens (Mustazzolu et al, 2019).…”