Antimicrobial Reference Laboratory

The Antimicrobial Reference Laboratory (ARL) is based at Southmead Hospital and is part of the Severn Pathology Infection Sciences Partnership. It provides a comprehensive assay services for the purposes of therapeutic monitoring with supporting consultative advice on technical aspects and clinical interpretation of antimicrobial assays. The laboratory receives referred samples from all over the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe and the services are delivered to ISO 15189 standards using state of the art methods, including LC and LCMS technologies.

Working alongside the ARL are the Bioanalytical and PK/PD laboratories, which focus on conducting pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analyses for clinical trials and in vitro evaluation of investigational medicinal products. The combined laboratories also support a wide range of investigator-initiated trails across the UK and can help with trial design, specialist analytical support and pharmacokinetic interpretation.

While the ARL publishes a list of the common services that it provides, along with Guideline Ranges for interpretation, it is able to support specialist TDM approaches for a much wider range of antimicrobial, antiviral and antifungal agents and users with unusual assay requirements are advised to call the ARL for advice.

Page updated 17/08/2022