THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DESIGN A PRODUCT FOR ANAEROBIC SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTING THAT HAS THE FOLLOWING FEATURES: 1) THE ABILITY TO DETERMINE MINIMAL INHIBIT CONCENTRATIONS OF ANTIBIOTICS FOR ANAEROBIC BACTERIA, 2) THE ABILITY TO GROW EXTREME

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DESIGN A PRODUCT FOR ANAEROBIC SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTING THAT HAS THE FOLLOWING FEATURES: 1) THE ABILITY TO DETERMINE MINIMAL INHIBIT CONCENTRATIONS OF ANTIBIOTICS FOR ANAEROBIC BACTERIA, 2) THE ABILITY TO GROW EXTREME OXYGEN SENSITIVE ORGANISMS, 3) SIMPLE TO PERFORM, AND 4: RESULTS ARE EASY TO INTERPRET. THE MORTALITY RATE OF ANAEROBIC INFECTIONS CAN BE VERY HIGH IF THE INFECTIOUS AGENT IS NOT IDENTIFIED AND PROPER THERAPY INITIATED. PREVIOUS TO THE MID 1970'S, IDENTIFICATION OF THE INFECTING ANAEROBE WAS SUFFICIENT FOR PROPER TREATMENT, HOWEVER WITH THE INCREASED USAGE OF THE NEWER ANTIBIOTICS, THERE HAS BEEN A SUBSEQUENT INCREASE IN ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE OF SEVERAL GROUPS OF COMMONLY ENCOUNTERED PATHOGENIC ANAEROBES. THE ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCES OBSERVED ARE NOT LIMITED TO SPECIFIC GROUPS OF ORGANISMS NOR ARE THEY LIMITED TO PARTICULAR ANTIBIOTICS. THEREFORE, SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTING OF ANAEROBIC BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM CLINICAL MATERIAL IS NOW NECESSARY AND SHOULD BE PERFORMED ROUTINELY. THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON LABORATORY STANDARDS (NCCLS) RECOMMENDED PROCEDURE FOR TESTING ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITIES OF ANAEROBIC BACTERIA IS EXTREMELY CUMBERSOME AND ALSO HAS GROWTH PROBLEMS WITH INDIVIDUAL STRAINTS OF OXYGEN SENSITIVE ORGANISMS. SIMILARLY, THE COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITIES GIVE INCONSISTENT RESULTS AND ARE INCAPABLE OF SUPPORTING THE GROWTH OF THE MORE OXYGEN SENSITIVE AND NUTRITIONALLY FASTIDIOUS ORGANISMS. THE RESULTS FROM THESE SYSTEMS TEND TO GIVE LOWER VALUES OR FALSE SUSCEPTIBILITIES FOR CERTAIN ANTIBIOTICS AND ORGANISMS. PLANNED FOR PHASE I WILL BE THE DESIGN OF A PROCESS BY WHICH PRODUCTION AND PACKAGING OF TEST ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY PANELS WILL BE DONE UNDER STRICT ANAEROBIC CONDITIONS. ALSO, VARIOUS NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS WILL BE TESTED TO DETERMINE IF THEIR ADDITION TO THE NCCLS RECOMMENDED MEDIUM WILL IMPROVE GROWTH OF VARIOUS NUTRITIONALLY FASTIDIOUS ANAEROBES, ESPECIALLY ANAEROBIC COCCI. THE COMPLETED PRODUCT WILL BE COMPARED TO THE NCCLS RECOMMENDED PROCEDURE.