Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1988 Oct;26(10):2096–2100. doi: 10.1128/jcm.26.10.2096-2100.1988

Comparative evaluation of selective media for isolation of Pseudomonas cepacia from cystic fibrosis patients and environmental sources.

L A Carson 1, O C Tablan 1, L B Cusick 1, W R Jarvis 1, M S Favero 1, L A Bland 1
PMCID: PMC266823  PMID: 3182996

Abstract

Pseudomonas cepacia has recently emerged as an important pathogen affecting cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. We evaluated three selective media to assess their comparative potential for identification of patients colonized with P. cepacia and for efficacy of detection of P. cepacia in environmental fluids. Test organisms included P. cepacia isolates from CF patients (10 each from two CF centers), non-CF patients (10 isolates), and environmental sources (10 isolates). Microbiologic assays were done by the membrane filter procedure; filters were placed on P. cepacia medium (PCM), OFPBL, TB-T, MacConkey agar (MAC), and blood agar (BA) or Standard Methods (SM) sugar, and colonies were counted after incubation at 30 or 35 degrees C for 72 h. Mean recovery efficiencies (MREs) (mean CFU/ml on selective media compared with CFU/ml on BA controls) for environmental and non-CF P. cepacia and patient isolates from one CF center showed a rank order of PCM greater than OFPBL greater than TB-T; for isolates from a second CF center, a rank order of PCM greater than TB-T greater than OFPBL was obtained. MREs for CF center isolates were generally lower than for non-CF patients or environmental isolates on P. cepacia-selective media. With MAC, the MREs for each group of CF isolates were extremely low (14 and 2%) compared with those for non-CF patient (47%) or environmental (84%) isolates. In laboratory and field studies, PCM and OFPBL showed good selectivity against bacteria commonly associated with CF patient respiratory secretions. These findings show that selective media should be used in clinical settings where P. cepacia is sought. With environmental fluids from CF centers, P. cepacia-selective media showed low selectivity against a variety of gram-negative water bacteria and appeared to afford little advantage over SM agar for isolating P. cepacia from environmental samples.

Full text

PDF
2096

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Black-Payne C., Lierl M. B., Bocchini J. A., Hilman B. C., Rambin E. D., Silberman R. Comparison of two selective media developed to isolate Pseudomonas cepacia from patients with cystic fibrosis. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 1987 Apr;6(4):277–282. doi: 10.1016/0732-8893(87)90175-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Gilligan P. H., Gage P. A., Bradshaw L. M., Schidlow D. V., DeCicco B. T. Isolation medium for the recovery of Pseudomonas cepacia from respiratory secretions of patients with cystic fibrosis. J Clin Microbiol. 1985 Jul;22(1):5–8. doi: 10.1128/jcm.22.1.5-8.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Glass S., Govan J. R. Pseudomonas cepacia--fatal pulmonary infection in a patient with cystic fibrosis. J Infect. 1986 Sep;13(2):157–158. doi: 10.1016/s0163-4453(86)92953-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Goldmann D. A., Klinger J. D. Pseudomonas cepacia: biology, mechanisms of virulence, epidemiology. J Pediatr. 1986 May;108(5 Pt 2):806–812. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(86)80749-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hardy K. A., McGowan K. L., Fisher M. C., Schidlow D. V. Pseudomonas cepacia in the hospital setting: lack of transmission between cystic fibrosis patients. J Pediatr. 1986 Jul;109(1):51–54. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(86)80571-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Isles A., Maclusky I., Corey M., Gold R., Prober C., Fleming P., Levison H. Pseudomonas cepacia infection in cystic fibrosis: an emerging problem. J Pediatr. 1984 Feb;104(2):206–210. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(84)80993-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Klinger J. D., Thomassen M. J. Occurrence and antimicrobial susceptibility of gram-negative nonfermentative bacilli in cystic fibrosis patients. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 1985 Mar;3(2):149–158. doi: 10.1016/0732-8893(85)90025-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Penn R. L., Silberman R. Effects of overnight refrigeration on the microscopic evaluation of sputum. J Clin Microbiol. 1984 Feb;19(2):161–163. doi: 10.1128/jcm.19.2.161-163.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Tablan O. C., Carson L. A., Cusick L. B., Bland L. A., Martone W. J., Jarvis W. R. Laboratory proficiency test results on use of selective media for isolating Pseudomonas cepacia from simulated sputum specimens of patients with cystic fibrosis. J Clin Microbiol. 1987 Mar;25(3):485–487. doi: 10.1128/jcm.25.3.485-487.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Tablan O. C., Chorba T. L., Schidlow D. V., White J. W., Hardy K. A., Gilligan P. H., Morgan W. M., Carson L. A., Martone W. J., Jason J. M. Pseudomonas cepacia colonization in patients with cystic fibrosis: risk factors and clinical outcome. J Pediatr. 1985 Sep;107(3):382–387. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(85)80511-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Thomassen M. J., Demko C. A., Doershuk C. F., Stern R. C., Klinger J. D. Pseudomonas cepacia: decrease in colonization in patients with cystic fibrosis. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1986 Oct;134(4):669–671. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1986.134.4.669. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Thomassen M. J., Demko C. A., Klinger J. D., Stern R. C. Pseudomonas cepacia colonization among patients with cystic fibrosis. A new opportunist. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1985 May;131(5):791–796. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1985.131.5.791. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Welch D. F., Muszynski M. J., Pai C. H., Marcon M. J., Hribar M. M., Gilligan P. H., Matsen J. M., Ahlin P. A., Hilman B. C., Chartrand S. A. Selective and differential medium for recovery of Pseudomonas cepacia from the respiratory tracts of patients with cystic fibrosis. J Clin Microbiol. 1987 Sep;25(9):1730–1734. doi: 10.1128/jcm.25.9.1730-1734.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Wu B. J., Thompson S. T. Selective medium for Pseudomonas cepacia containing 9-chloro-9-(4-diethylaminophenyl)-10-phenylacridan and polymyxin B sulfate. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1984 Oct;48(4):743–746. doi: 10.1128/aem.48.4.743-746.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES