Comparison of phenotypic methods in predicting methicillin resistance in coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) from animals.

Abstract

Phenotypic detection of methicillin resistance in coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) of animal origin has been challenging due to the heterogeneous expression of mecA. To compare different phenotypic methods in predicting the mecA presence in CoNS, a total of 87 CoNS isolates from agricultural animals were analyzed in this study by agar dilution, disk diffusion, and broth microdilution. mecA was present in 81 CoNS isolates. Broth microdilution demonstrated the highest sensitivity of 100% in predicting the mecA presence, followed by 72.8% by agar dilution and 70.4% by disk diffusion. The results indicate that broth microdilution may be more suitable for predicting the presence of mecA in CoNS from animals than the other two methods, although staphylococcal species may also be a factor affecting the sensitivities of the methods as the top three staphylococcal species in this study were Staphylococcus lentus, Staphylococcus sciuri, and Staphylococcus xylosus (a total of 75 of 87).