Evaluation of bacterial growth rate by the ATP-bioluminescence method (luciferase assay)--comparison with conventional methods and application to clinical studies]

Bacterial growth rate was evaluated by estimating the increase in ATP content of cultures of bacterial suspensions using luciferase assay, and the method was applied to the estimation of bactericidal activity of serum and anti-bacterial activity of antibiotics. The results obtained were as follows: The bacterial numbers or bacterial growth rate determined by the ATP-Bioluminescence method was in accordance with those by CFU assay and spectrometrical assay by optical density readings. Furthermore this method was confirmed to be non-time-consuming and more simple than other methods. Using this method, anti-bacterial activity of fresh serum was evaluated. The serum suppressed the growth rate of E. coli, Str. fecalis, CBS, Kleb. pneumoniae and Staph. aureus at least for 2 hours. Heat-inactivated serum and absorbed serum with bacteria tended to lose such suppressive effect. Thus the main effective factors seem to be complements and specific antibody. The anti-microbial activity of antibiotics was enhanced by addition of fresh serum to bacterial cultures, and the results were not in accordance with those by the conventional Disc method. Thus the sensitivity test under the influence of fresh serum is recommended in order to know the clinical effect of antibiotics. These results suggest the usefulness of ATP-Bioluminescence method in the clinical laboratory examinations or investigations.