What is the difference between Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimal Bactericidal Concentration (MBC)?

What are Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimal Bactericidal Concentration (MBC)?

1. What is MIC?

2. What is MBC?

Answers:

1. MIC is the lowest concentration of an antimicrobial drug that inhibits visible bacterial growth.

2. MBC is the lowest concentration that kills around 99.9% of the initial bacterial population.

Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimal Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) are essential terms in microbiology and pharmacology related to antimicrobial susceptibility testing. MIC is the minimum concentration of an antimicrobial drug that inhibits the visible growth of bacteria, while MBC is the lowest concentration that kills a significant proportion of the bacterial population.

The MIC is determined using broth dilution tests, where the concentration of the antibiotic at which there is no visible bacterial growth is recorded. This concentration indicates the effectiveness of the antibiotic in inhibiting bacterial growth but does not necessarily kill the bacteria. On the other hand, the MBC is determined by transferring samples from MIC tests to agar plates without antibiotics. The lowest concentration at which around 99.9% of the initial bacterial population is killed is recorded as the MBC.

Both MIC and MBC are crucial in determining the effectiveness of antimicrobial agents against bacterial pathogens. Understanding these concentrations helps in selecting the appropriate antibiotic treatment and designing effective dosage plans to combat bacterial infections.