Informed development of a multi-species biofilm in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Short, B., Delaney, C., Johnston, W., Litherland, G. J., Lockhart, J. C., Williams, C., MacKay, W. G. and Ramage, G. (2024) Informed development of a multi-species biofilm in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. APMIS: Journal of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, (doi: 10.1111/apm.13386) (PMID:38379455) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Recent evidence indicates that microbial biofilm aggregates inhabit the lungs of COPD patients and actively contribute towards chronic colonization and repeat infections. However, there are no contextually relevant complex biofilm models for COPD research. In this study, a meta-analysis of the lung microbiome in COPD was used to inform development of an optimized biofilm model composed of genera highly associated with COPD. Bioinformatic analysis showed that although diversity matrices of COPD microbiomes were similar to healthy controls, and internal compositions made it possible to accurately differentiate between these cohorts (AUC = 0.939). Genera that best defined these patients included Haemophilus, Moraxella and Streptococcus. Many studies fail to account for fungi; therefore, Candida albicans was included in the creation of an interkingdom biofilm model. These organisms formed a biofilm capable of tolerating high concentrations of antimicrobial therapies with no significant reductions in viability. However, combined therapies of antibiotics and an antifungal resulted in significant reductions in viable cells throughout the biofilm (p < 0.05). This biofilm model is representative of the COPD lung microbiome and results from in vitro antimicrobial challenge experiments indicate that targeting both bacteria and fungi in these interkingdom communities will be required for more positive clinical outcomes.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Bryn Short was supported by a matched Ph.D. studentship provided by the University of the West of Scotland to support the Borders and Regions Airways Training Hub project (BREATH; INT-VA/045) which is funded by the European Union (EU), under the INTERREG VA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ramage, Professor Gordon and Short, Mr Bryn and Delaney, Dr Christopher
• Authors: Short, B., Delaney, C., Johnston, W., Litherland, G. J., Lockhart, J. C., Williams, C., MacKay, W. G., and Ramage, G.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing
• Journal Name: APMIS: Journal of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0903-4641
• ISSN (Online): 1600-0463
• Published Online: 21 February 2024
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2024 The Authors
• First Published: First published in APMIS: Journal of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology 2024
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License