Two-site comparison of broth microdilution and semisolid agar dilution methods for susceptibility testing of Cryptococcus neoformans in three media

J Clin Microbiol. 1993 May;31(5):1370-2. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.5.1370-1372.1993.

Abstract

This study evaluated the inter- and intralaboratory agreement between results of the semisolid agar dilution and broth microdilution methods of antifungal susceptibility testing of Cryptococcus neoformans. Three media were tested in two laboratories. The drugs tested were amphotericin B, flucytosine, itraconazole, fluconazole, and Schering 39304. Analysis by kappa statistics revealed good agreement between the laboratories for the two methods. The highest level of inter- and intralaboratory agreement was observed in RPMI 1640 with L-glutamine followed by Eagle's minimum essential medium and yeast nitrogen broth. The broth microdilution method appears more suitable than the semisolid agar dilution method for testing cryptococci because of its ease in performance, cost, and simplicity.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Agar
  • Antifungal Agents / pharmacology
  • Cryptococcosis / drug therapy
  • Cryptococcus neoformans / drug effects*
  • Cryptococcus neoformans / isolation & purification
  • Culture Media
  • Evaluation Studies as Topic
  • Humans
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests / methods*
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests / statistics & numerical data
  • Reproducibility of Results

Substances

  • Antifungal Agents
  • Culture Media
  • Agar