Evaluation of the Blue-Carba test for rapid detection of carbapenemases in gram-negative Bacilli

Abstract

The Blue-Carba test (BCT) is a biochemical test for rapid (2 h)detection of carbapenemase production in Gram-negative bacillidirectly from bacterial culture . It is based on the in vitrohydrolysis of imipenem by bacterial colonies (direct inoculationwithout prior lysis), which is detected by changes in pH valuesrevealed by the indicator bromothymol blue (blue to green/yellowor green to yellow). It was reported to be 100% sensitive andspecific for Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonasspp., and Acinetobacterspp. harboring carbapenemases . We evaluated a simplifiedprotocol of the BCT against various Gram-negative species, includingcombinations of bacterial species/resistance mechanismsthat were not previously evaluated.