Novel fluorescent broth microdilution method for fluconazole susceptibility testing of Candida albicans

A comparative evaluation of the reference National Committee for Clinical L aboratory Standards (NCCLS) broth microdilution method with a novel fluores cent carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA)-modified microdilution method for the susceptibility testing of fluconazole was conducted with 68 Candida str ains, including 53 Candida albicans, 5 Candida tropicalis, 5 Candida glabra ta, and 5 Candida parapsilosis strains. We found trailing endpoints and dis cordant fluconazole MICs of <8 mug/ml at 24 h and of greater than or equal to 64 mug/ml at 48 h for 12 of the C. albicans strains. These strains satis fy the definition of the low-high MIC phenotype. All 12 low-high phenotype strains were correctly shown to be susceptible at 48 h with the CFDA-modifi ed microdilution method. For the 41 non-low-high phenotype C. albicans stra ins, the CFDA-modified microdilution method yielded 97.6% (40 of 41 strains ) agreement within +/-1 dilution at 24 h compared with the reference method and 92.7% (38 of 41 strains) agreement within +/-1 dilution at 38 h compar ed with the reference method. The five strains each from C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, and C. parapsilosis that were tested showed 100% agreement within +/-2 dilutions for the two methods being evaluated.