Multicenter comparison of the Sensititre YeastOne colorimetric antifungal panel with the NCCLS M27-A2 reference method for testing new antifungal agents against clinical isolates of Candida spp.

A multicenter (three centers) study compared MICs obtained by the Sensititre YeastOne Colorimetric Antifungal plate to reference microdilution broth (NCCLS M27-A2 document) MICs of three new triazoles (posaconazole, ravuconazole, and voriconazole) and the echinocandin caspofungin acetate for 100 isolates of Candida spp. In addition, amphotericin B and fluconazole were tested as control drugs. Colorimetric MICs of caspofungin and amphotericin B corresponded to the first blue well (no growth), and MICs of the other agents corresponded to the first slightly purple or blue well. Two comparisons of MIC pairs by the two methods were evaluated: 24-h colorimetric MICs were compared to NCCLS MICs at 24 and at 48 h. The interlaboratory reproducibility of YeastOne and reference MICs was also examined. The best performance of the YeastOne plate was with 24-h MICs (overall, 95 to 99% agreement) for all the species and antifungal agents. These results suggest the potential value of the YeastOne plate for use in the clinical laboratory for the four new antifungal agents evaluated.