Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have raised concerns among researchers over the past several decades regarding the serious public health problem these represent. These microorganisms have hindered the effectiveness of antimicrobial treatments, increasing the difficulty to find an adequate antibiotic to treat infection-causing bacteria successfully. The CTX-M-15 allele, present in plasmidic DNA of cefotaxime-resistant bacteria, has been related to the production of enzymes that confer resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics. Accordingly, the use of these antibiotics to treat infections caused by any CTX-M-15 containing E. coli results ineffective. Identifying the presence of this gene through molecular biology techniques is crucial to avoid utilizing beta-lactam antibiotics when facing this type of bacteria. Therefore, the design of a microfluidic device that conducts the amplification of CTX-M-15 via loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) on-field is proposed, representing a cost-effective, portable, reliable, and rapid method to detect beta-lactam antibiotic-resistant bacteria containing the CTX-M-15 allele. It is expected that, by implementing this device within practical applications, a trustworthy visual result that verifies or discards the presence of the CTX-M-15 gene could be provided, functioning as solid evidence to facilitate decision-making when addressing antibiotic resistance problematics.
