Beta-lactam and microbial diversity in cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a chronic lung disease that affects more than 30,000 people in the United States and 70,000 people worldwide. While this chronic disease is characterized by acute pulmonary exacerbations that are frequently treated with antibiotics, the impact of antibiotics on airway microbial diversity remains a critical knowledge gap.

A new study led by researchers at Children’s National Hospital found that beta-lactam antibiotic pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) target attainment during treatment is associated with suppressed recovery of microbial diversity, following a pulmonary exacerbation in children and adolescents with CF.

“By laying the groundwork for understanding how antibiotic PK may influence microbial diversity following pulmonary exacerbation, we hope to identify improved ways to guide antibiotic therapy in persons with CF,” says Andrea Hahn, M.D., M.S., an infectious diseases specialist at Children’s National and lead author of the study.

The study, published in the Journal of Investigative Medicine, examined the hypotheses that beta-lactam antibiotic PK and PD is associated with changes in richness and alpha diversity following treatment of a pulmonary exacerbations and determined associations between antibiotic PK, PD, antibiotic resistance and lung function.

“Beta-lactam antibiotics are frequently used to treat pulmonary exacerbations in persons with CF, yet are not routinely optimized,” says Dr. Hahn. “This study demonstrates the importance of beta-lactam PK’s on changes within the airway microbiome and provides context for care providers regarding the potential long-term impacts of antibiotic use in persons with CF, to ensure that we are optimizing therapy with each pulmonary exacerbation.”

Additional authors from Children’s National include: Aszia Burrell, Hollis Chaney, M.D., Iman Sami Zakhari, M.D., Anastassios Koumbourlis, M.D., M.P.H. and Robert Freishtat, M.D., M.P.H.