Colorimetric method for rapid detection of Oxacillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and its comparison with PCR for mec A gene

Rapid and accurate detection of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an important role of clinical microbiology laboratories to avoid treatment failure. The detection of MRSA is based on phenotypic assays which require at least 24 h to perform. Detection of the mecA gene or of PBP 2a is the "gold standard", but not always available. The aim of this study was to evaluate a rapid method for detection of MRSA by using 3 (4, 5 dimethyl thiazole -2-yl) -2, 5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT). Total 126 isolates of MRSA were collected from tertiary healthcare center and were confirmed by oxacillin screening agar test as per CLSI guidelines. Amplification of mecA gene was performed by using PCR. MTT assay was carried out for all the isolates in 96 well Microtitre plate and compared with standard methods of CLSI. Out of 126 isolates, 98 were found to be mecA positive. MTT method was found to be 98.98% sensitive and 96.43% specific. The MTT based colorimetric method is rapid and simple test for screening of oxacillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. It significantly shortens the time to just 7 h required to obtained a drug susceptibility test and could be useful to screen MRSA.