Rapid identification of bacterial resistance to Ciprofloxacin using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

摘要

Due to its effectiveness and broad coverage, Ciprofloxacin is the fifth most prescribed antibiotic in the US. As current methods of infection diagnosis and antibiotic sensitivity testing (i.e. an antibiogram) are very time consuming, physicians prescribe ciprofloxacin before obtaining antibiogram results. In order to avoid increasing resistance to the antibiotic, a method was developed to provide both a rapid diagnosis and the sensitivity to the antibiotic. Using Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy, an antibiogram was obtained after exposing the bacteria to Ciprofloxacin for just two hours. Spectral analysis revealed clear separation between sensitive and resistant bacteria and could also offer some inside into the mechanisms of resistance.