Comparative evaluation of ATB FUNGUS 3 procedure and CLSI M27-A2 broth microdilution method for antifungal susceptibility testing of pathogenic yeasts

Abstract

Objective To investigate whether ATB FUNGUS 3 method has the agreement in determining the susceptibility of pathogenic yeasts to common antifungal drugs with clinical and laboratory standards in-stitute(CLSI) microdilution method M27-A2. Methods The in vitro susceptibilities of 172 isolates of Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans to the common antifungal agents, including amphtericin B (AMB), flucytosine (5-FC), fluconazole (FLC), voriconazole ( VRC ), and itraconazole (ITC), were assayed by using both ATB FUNGUS 3 method and CLSI M27-A2 broth microdilution method. Results The two methods show 93.0% agreements for ITC, 95.9% for AMB, 98.8% for 5-FC, 92.4% for FLC, and 93.6% for VRC. For Candida species, it was 81.7% agreement between the two methods for FLC, 59.2%, 90.9% and 96.5% agreement for ITC,VRC and 5-FC,respectively. Conclusion ATB FUNGUS 3 method is a rapid and simple procedure, and has good agreement with CLSI M27-A2 method in determining the antifungal susceptibility of pathogenic yeast to common antifungal drugs. Key words: Antibiotics; antifungal; Microbial sensitivity tests; Yeasts