Extract
The cystic fibrosis (CF) respiratory tract is inhabited by complex polymicrobial communities [1–4]. The sinonasal site has been proposed as a gateway and reservoir for subsequent pulmonary infection with the major CF pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa [5, 6]. To colonise and infect the lungs, the bacteria must first colonise the oropharynx and then, on occasion, pass this barrier. Here, we report on the adherence of P. aeruginosa to oropharyngeal epithelial cells, namely buccal epithelial cells that were collected from CF patients during the initial and chronic phase of P. aeruginosa lung colonisation, and from P. aeruginosa-negative patients. Based on an assay with radioactively labelled bacteria published in the late 1970s [7], we established a low-cost, nonradioactive assay of P. aeruginosa adherence to buccal epithelial cells that may be useful for patient monitoring or as a biomarker for clinical studies.
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa cystic fibrosis buccal adherence assay http://ow.ly/lPtB306VKIQ
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Günter Maaß (Institut für Biophysikalische Chemie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany), Dieter Bitter-Suermann (Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Krankenhaushygiene, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany) and the late Jürgen Potel (Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Krankenhaushygiene, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany) for their generous support.
Footnotes
Support statement: This work has been supported in part by grants of the Christiane Herzog Stiftung and the Deutsche Fördergesellschaft für die Mukoviszidoseforschung. Funding information of this article has been deposited with the Open Funder Registry.
Conflict of interest: Disclosures can be found alongside this article at openres.ersjournals.com
- Received August 22, 2016.
- Accepted November 19, 2016.
- Copyright ©ERS 2017
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