Identification Of Bacterial Drug Resistance In Blood Using Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

Development of antibiotic resistance by microorganisms has been on the rise in recent years. Therefore, identifying drug resistant strains and effective antibiotic agents is critical. Traditional microbiological methods assess antimicrobial susceptibility within 24 to 48 hours, whereas optical nanoparticle-based methods cannot be used in opaque media. Hence, we have developed a nanoparticle- based antimicrobial susceptibility assay, utilizing Concanavalin A-conjugated iron oxide nanoparticles. When the bacteria do not grow, the changes in the solution\u27s T2 relaxation times are proximal to those of the sterile medium. On the other hand, when the bacteria grow, the levels of free carbohydrates decrease, thus the changes in the T2 times are significantly higher than those of the sterile medium. The iron-oxide-nanoparticle-based antimicrobial susceptibility assay (i) monitors bacterial metabolism, (ii) provides results within 2 hours, (iii) determines the minimum effective antibiotic concentration with sensitivity comparable to those of the gold standard methods, and (iv) determines antimicrobial susceptibility in biological fluids, such as blood