FFC#14/2015

Investigating the airway microbiome in cystic fibrosis patients with a severe decline in lung function: an opportunity for a personalized microbiome-based therapy

FFC#14/2015

Investigating the airway microbiome in cystic fibrosis patients with a severe decline in lung function: an opportunity for a personalized microbiome-based therapy

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Anna Maria Bevivino (Unità Tecnica per lo Sviluppo e Innovazione del Sistema Agroindustriale – ENEA Agenzia Nazionale Italiana per le Nuove Tecnologie, Energie e Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile, Laboratorio di Microbiologia, Centro Ricerche Casaccia, Roma)

Partner

Alessio Mengoni (Dip. di Biologia, Università di Firenze); Giovanni Taccetti (Dip. di Pediatria, Centro fibrosi cistica, Firenze); Ersilia Vita Fiscarelli (Ospedale dei Bambini, Istituto di Ricerca Bambino Gesù, Lab. di Microbiologia per fibrosi cistica); Alessandra De Alessandri (Centro Fibrosi Cistica, Dip. di Scienze Pediatriche, Pneumologia e Allergologia – Istituto G. Gaslini, Genova)

RESEARCHERS

18

CATEGORY

AREA 3 Bronchopulmonary infection

DURATION

1 year

GOAL

€ 44.000 €

RESULTS

Results indicate that the severity of CF lung disease is associated with an imbalanced presence of antibiotic resistance genes and with differential abundance of genes involved in metabolic pathways putatively correlated with bacterial virulence. Sputum samples from CF patients were characterized by a pyrosequencing approach, to assess how lung microbiota composition changes following a severe decline in lung function. Patients with a substantial decline in their lung function and patients with a stable lung function showed a different bacterial composition, with the first group of patients reporting a more heterogeneous community of microbiota. Pseudomonas was the dominant genus followed by Staphylococcus and Prevotella. The authors also found the presence of the unusual anaerobic genus Sneathia. The ability to analyze the entire lung microbiome and identify biomarkers can lead to personalized medicine based on the microbiome.

OTHER RESULTS

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Two molecules are effective in activating Heat Shock Proteins and enhancing the action of CFTR correctors with the F508del mutation in vitro.

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Some peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) re-sensitise Pseudomonas aeruginosa to the antibiotic meropenem in vitro and reduce its virulence.

FFC#1/2023

Tezacaftor, one of the components of Kaftrio, induces an accumulation of dihydroceramides both in vitro and in vivo in animal models