Microcalorimetry as a tool for evaluation of blood culture media

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Abstract
Evaluation of optimal compositions of blood culture media involves extensive and laborious work in comparative studies of large series of clinical specimens. Bacterial growth is accompanied by heat production, and calorimetry provides an analytical tool for its detection and quantification. A twin microcalorimeter of the heat conduction type was used to register heat effects in experimentally infected blood cultures. When studying Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, larger heat effects were produced with 0.05% sodium polyanetholsulfonate than with 600 IU of heparin/ml, which was also the case when using 10% sucrose. The addition of IsoVitalex (BBL) increased the heat effects produced by the 2 spp. mentioned, but it had the opposite effect in cultures of Neisseria meningitidis. Microcalorimetry is apparently a valuable and time-saving tool for the evaluation of optimal compositions of bacterial culture media.