A critical assessment of the agar dilution chequerboard technique for studying in-vitro antimicrobial interactions using a representative beta-lactam, aminoglycoside and fluoroquinolone.

The agar dilution chequerboard technique of studying antimicrobial interactions was assessed by testing a representative beta-lactam (piperacillin/tazobactam), aminoglycoside (gentamicin) and fluoroquinolone (ciprofloxacin) against themselves, that is piperacillin/tazobactam plus piperacillin/tazobactam, gentamicin plus gentamicin and ciprofloxacin plus ciprofloxacin. In addition, combinations of piperacillin/tazobactam plus gentamicin or ciprofloxacin were also tested against Enterobacteriaceae and Acinetobacter spp. in triplicate. The agar dilution chequerboard technique did not reliably show addition when agents were combined with themselves, and there was also considerable variation when beta-lactam plus aminoglycoside or fluoroquinolone combinations when tested in triplicate. These observations, and problems with the design of the method, indicate that the chequerboard technique should be used only with adequate controls and replication, and then interpreted with extreme caution; ideally, it should not be used as a method of assessing antimicrobial interactions.