© 2004 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd & British Thoracic Society
EDITORIAL
Microbiology of CF
Difficult bacteria, antibiotic resistance and transmissibility in cystic fibrosis
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor J S Elborn
Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre, Ground Floor, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast BT9 7AB, UK; stuart.elborn@bch.n-i.nhs.uk
Three papers published in this issue of Thorax add some further twists to our understanding of the microbiology of CF
Keywords: cystic fibrosis; infection; Burkholderia cepacia complex; Burkholderia multivorans; Stenotrophomonas maltophilia; antibiotic resistance
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
The link between dysfunction of the CFTR protein and the pathophysiology of lung disease in cystic fibrosis (CF) has recently become clearer. Abnormal sodium and chloride ion transport in respiratory epithelial cells results in depletion of airways surface liquid volume, delayed mucus transport, and impaired bacterial clearance.1,2 This initiates airways inflammatory responses leading, ultimately, to lung injury in CF. The most important predictors of poor outcome are chronic infection with Pseudomonasaeruginosa and Burkholderiacepacia complex and reduced forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1).3–5
Pulmonary infection in CF is characterised by a narrow spectrum of micro-organisms and is dominated in older patients by Paeruginosa. This organism and other related Gram-negative bacteria adapt to the conditions found in airways mucus and establish biofilms which allow chronic infection to be established.6 Recent studies suggest that this microenvironment is relatively hypoxic and this creates a hospitable
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Thorax 2004 59: 913.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
This article has been cited by other articles:
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Anderson, S. W., Stapp, J. R., Burns, J. L., Qin, X.
(2007). Characterization of Small-Colony-Variant Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Isolated from the Sputum Specimens of Five Patients with Cystic Fibrosis. J. Clin. Microbiol.
45: 529-535
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