Rapid Detection Systems for ß-Lactamases

The rapid test utilizes the activity of antibiotic resistant bacteria to cleave ß-lactam antibiotics by enzymatic hydrolysis, which is represented by a corresponding reporter substrate. With special additives to the reporter substrate, other individual enzyme mechanisms can be determined. This enables the resistant ESBL-producing organisms to distinguish them from other resistance mechanisms, in particular of bacteria having an activity of Metallo-ß-lactamases or AmpC enzymes. The developed detection system offers major advantages over the established systems. The difference to mobile diagnostic systems based on PCR-based technology is located in the direct detection of the activity of the bacteria, despite the presence of other microbiota. This on-site test allows a risk assessment of these bacteria.