Project description:Airway secretion clearance therapies are a cornerstone of cystic fibrosis care, however longitudinal comparative studies are rare. Our objectives were to compare three therapies [postural drainage and percussion: (postural drainage), flutter device (FD), and high frequency chest wall oscillation: (vest)], by studying (1) change in pulmonary function; (2) time to need for intravenous (IV) antibiotics, (3) use of pulmonary therapies, (4) adherence to treatment, (5) treatment satisfaction, and (6) quality of life.Participants were randomly assigned to one of three therapies twice daily. Clinical outcomes were assessed quarterly over 3 years.Enrollment goals were not met, and withdrawal rates were high, especially in postural drainage (51%) and FD (26%), compared to vest (9%), resulting in early termination. FEV(1) decline, time to need IV antibiotics, and other pulmonary therapies were not different. The annual FEF(25-75%) predicted rate of decline was greater in those using vest (P = 0.02). Adherence was not significantly different (P = 0.09). Overall treatment satisfaction was higher in vest and FD than in postural drainage (P < 0.05). Health-related quality of life was not different. The rate of FEV(1) decline was 1.23% predicted/year.The study was ended early due to dropout and smaller than expected decline in FEV(1). Patients were more satisfied with vest and FD. The longitudinal decline in FEF(25-75%) was faster in vest; we found no other difference in lung function decline, taken together this warrants further study. The slow decline in FEV(1) illustrates the difficulty with FEV(1) decline as a clinical trial outcome.
Project description:Biomarkers providing in vivo quantification of the basic elements of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease are needed. A study was performed to determine whether the absorption of a small radiolabelled hydrophilic molecule (Indium-111 (In-)DTPA) would be increased in CF airways. DTPA clearance has been used previously to assess epithelial permeability and may also be useful for quantifying liquid absorption. The absorptive clearance rate of DTPA was quantified in 10 CF and 11 control subjects using a novel aerosol technique. Subjects inhaled an aerosol containing nonabsorbable technetium-99m sulfur colloid (Tc-SC) particles and In-DTPA. Tc-SC clearance from the lung is exclusively mucociliary, while In-DTPA is cleared by both absorption and mucociliary clearance. The difference between the In-DTPA and Tc-SC clearance rates estimates In-DTPA absorption. Tc-SC (mucociliary) clearance was similar in central and peripheral zones in CF and non-CF lungs. Total In-DTPA clearance was increased in both zones in CF lungs. The absorptive component of In-DTPA clearance was increased in the airway-dominated central lung zones in CF (42% x h( -1) versus 32% x h(-1), p = 0.03). The absorption of In-DTPA is increased in the CF airway. Further study is needed to understand the relative roles of fluid absorption, inflammation and other mechanisms potentially affecting epithelial permeability and DTPA absorption.
Project description:Mucus clearance, a primary innate defense mechanism of airways, is defective in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and CF animals. In previous work, the combination of a low dose of the cholinergic agonist, carbachol with forskolin or a β adrenergic agonist, isoproterenol synergistically increased mucociliary clearance velocity (MCCV) in ferret tracheas. Importantly, the present study shows that synergistic MCCV can also be produced in CF ferrets, with increases ~ 55% of WT. Synergistic MCCV was also produced in pigs. The combined agonists increased MCCV by increasing surface fluid via multiple mechanisms: increased fluid secretion from submucosal glands, increased anion secretion across surface epithelia and decreased Na+ absorption. To avoid bronchoconstriction, the cAMP agonist was applied 30 min before carbachol. This approach to increasing mucus clearance warrants testing for safety and efficacy in humans as a potential therapeutic for muco-obstructive diseases.
Project description:BACKGROUND:Children affected with cystic fibrosis do respiratory exercises to release the mucus stuck in their lungs. OBJECTIVE:The objective of our study was to develop prototypes of digital games that use breath pressure to make this daily physiotherapy more fun. METHODS:We used a participatory design approach and organized short events to invite contributors from different disciplines to develop game prototypes. From the 6 prototypes, 3 were tested by 10 children during a prestudy. The source code of the games, of which 2 continue to be developed, has been released on the internet under fair use licenses. RESULTS:We discuss 7 themes of importance in designing games for health, combining our experience with a review a posteriori of literature. CONCLUSIONS:This study provides examples of games and their pitfalls as well as recommendations to create games for health in a participatory approach that enables everyone to improve and adapt the work done.
Project description:BackgroundThe prevalence of fungal disease in cystic fibrosis (CF) and non-CF bronchiectasis is increasing and the clinical spectrum is widening. Poor sensitivity and a lack of standard diagnostic criteria renders interpretation of culture results challenging. In order to develop effective management strategies, a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of the airways fungal microbiome is required. The study aimed to use DNA sequences from sputum to assess the load and diversity of fungi in adults with CF and non-CF bronchiectasis.MethodsNext generation sequencing of the ITS2 region was used to examine fungal community composition (n = 176) by disease and underlying clinical subgroups including allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis, non-tuberculous mycobacteria, and fungal bronchitis. Patients with no known active fungal disease were included as disease controls.ResultsITS2 sequencing greatly increased the detection of fungi from sputum. In patients with CF fungal diversity was lower, while burden was higher than those with non-CF bronchiectasis. The most common operational taxonomic unit (OTU) in patients with CF was Candida parapsilosis (20.4%), whereas in non-CF bronchiectasis sputum Candida albicans (21.8%) was most common. CF patients with overt fungal bronchitis were dominated by Aspergillus spp., Exophiala spp., Candida parapsilosis or Scedosporium spp.ConclusionThis study provides a framework to more accurately characterize the extended spectrum of fungal airways diseases in adult suppurative lung diseases.
Project description:Our laboratory has held a long interest in the glycosylation changes seen on the surface of airway epithelia of patients with the disease cystic fibrosis (CF). Experiments from our laboratory have detailed a CF glycosylation phenotype of increased Fuca1,3/4 and decreased Fuca1,2 and sialic acid on the surfaces of immortalized and primary CF cells compared to non-CF cells. Further, we have shown that gene transfer and subsequent expression of a wild type CF plasmid in CF airway cells results in correction or reversal of this glycosylation phenotype. We hypothesize that the changes in glycosylation seen in CF cells are key in the pathophysiology of the cystic fibrosis airway disease. For example, it has been shown that Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium that has a predilection for colonizing CF airways, adheres to asialylated glycolipids and glycoconjugates with terminal Fuca1,3/4. One focus of our laboratory is to elucidate the etiology of the glycosylation changes seen in CF cells and the mechanism by which these changes are reversed by wild type CFTR gene transfer. We propose to study the gene expression of immortalized and primary CF and non-CF airway epithelial cells: 1. CF/T43 vs. BEAS-2B cells. These are two widely used immortalized airway cell lines that we have used extensively in the past. 2. C38 cells; C38 cells are IB3 cells expressing wtCFTR. The experimental focus is to elucidate the etiology of the glycosylation changes seen in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) cells and the mechanism by which these changes are reversed by wild type CFTR gene transfer. To do so, the gene expression of immortalized and primary CF and non-CF airway epithelial cells were compared and studied. Cell lines used were CF/T43 and BEAS-2B, both widely used immortalized airway cell lines. Other cell lines studied included C38 cell lines (clonal derivatives of IB3 cells expressing wtCFTR).
Project description:Interactions in the airway ecology of cystic fibrosis may alter organism persistence and clinical outcomes. Better understanding of such interactions could guide clinical decisions. We used generalized estimating equations to fit logistic regression models to longitudinal 2-year patient cohorts in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Patient Registry, 2003 to 2011, in order to study associations between the airway organisms present in each calendar year and their presence in the subsequent year. Models were adjusted for clinical characteristics and multiple observations per patient. Adjusted models were tested for sensitivity to cystic fibrosis-specific treatments. The study included 28,042 patients aged 6 years and older from 257 accredited U.S. care centers and affiliates. These patients had produced sputum specimens for at least two consecutive years that were cultured for methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Burkholderia cepacia complex, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Achromobacter xylosoxidans, and Candida and Aspergillus species. We analyzed 99.8% of 538,458 sputum cultures from the patients during the study period. Methicillin-sensitive S. aureus was negatively associated with subsequent Paeruginosa. Paeruginosa was negatively associated with subsequent B. cepacia complex, Axylosoxidans, and Smaltophilia. Bcepacia complex was negatively associated with the future presence of all bacteria studied, as well as with that of Aspergillus species. Paeruginosa, B. cepacia complex, and S. maltophilia were each reciprocally and positively associated with Aspergillus species. Independently of patient characteristics, the organisms studied interact and alter the outcomes of treatment decisions, sometimes in unexpected ways. By inhibiting P. aeruginosa, methicillin-sensitive S. aureus may delay lung disease progression. Paeruginosa and B. cepacia complex may inhibit other organisms by decreasing airway biodiversity, potentially worsening lung disease.
Project description:BackgroundRoutine clinical culture detects a subset of the cystic fibrosis (CF) airways microbiota based on culture-independent (molecular) methods. This study aimed to determine how extended sputum culture of viable bacteria changes over time in relation to clinical status and predicts exacerbations.MethodsSputa from patients at a baseline stable and up to three subsequent time-points were analysed by extended-quantitative culture; aerobe/anaerobe densities, ecological indexes and community structure were assessed together with clinical outcomes.ResultsEighty patients were prospectively recruited. Sputa were successfully collected and cultured at 199/267 (74.5%) study visits. Eighty-two sputa from 25 patients comprised a complete sample-set for longitudinal analyses. Bacterial density, ecological indexes and clinical outcomes were unchanged in 18 patients with three sequential stable visits. Conversely, in 7 patients who had an exacerbation, total bacterial and aerobe densities differed over four study visits (P < .001) with this difference particularly apparent between the baseline visit and completion of acute antibiotic treatment where a decrease in density was observed. Bacterial communities were more similar within than between patients but stable patients had the least variation in community structure over time. Using logistic regression in a further analysis, baseline features in 37 patients without compared to 15 patients with a subsequent exacerbation showed that clinical measures rather than bacterial density or ecological indexes were independent predictors of an exacerbation.ConclusionsGreater fluctuation in the viable bacterial community during treatment of an exacerbation than between stable visits was observed. Extended-quantitative culture did not provide prognostic information of a future exacerbation.