This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Provonchee, R. B. Articles by Zinner, S. H. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Provonchee, R. B. Articles by Zinner, S. H. Agricola Articles by Provonchee, R. B. Articles by Zinner, S. H.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1974 January; 27(1): 185-186
Copyright © 1974 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Rapid Method for Determining Serum Bactericidal Activity

Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Roger Williams General Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island 02908
Division of Biological and Medical Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02908

ABSTRACT

To screen large numbers of sera, a method was devised which utilizes the Steers-Foltz replicator which is usually used to determine minimal inhibitory concentration for antibiotics. Each of the wells (9 by 15 mm) of the replicator is filled with 0.06 ml of serum, 0.02 ml of a 10⁵ suspension of organisms, and 0.02 ml of diluent (tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane-hydrochloride buffer, pH 8.4). The mixtures are incubated for 3 h, and samples are taken at 0, 1, 2, and 3 h by stamping duplicate nutrient agar plates (approximately 0.04 ml from each well). Plates are incubated overnight, and bactericidal activity is estimated by visual inspection of bacterial growth at each site for each sampling time. Results obtained with 28 serum-organism pairs paralleled standard pipetting-pour plate methods. The replicator method for determining bactericidal activity allows for the testing of a large number of samples and requires negligible amounts of serum.