Avidity of antibodies against Pseudomonas aeruginosa during respiratory infection and the humoral immune response to different pathogens during pulmonary exacerbation in cystic fibrosis

• Grant number: 15/26043-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): April 25, 2016
• Effective date (End): October 24, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Immunology - Applied Immunology
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Emilio Levy
• Grantee: Renan Marrichi Mauch
• Supervisor: Niels Høiby
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Research place: University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/00007-8 - Investigation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa respiratory infection in patients with cystic fibrosis in a reference center in Brazil: evaluation of the utility of four different diagnostic methods, BP.DR

Abstract

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease resulting from dysfunction of the CFTR protein, essential for the transport of ions and water across the cell membrane, and the lung disease is the most prominent clinical manifestation. Dehydration of the respiratory secretions occurs resulting in increased viscosity, impairing of mucociliary transport, developing chronic low airways obstruction, with bacterial colonization followed by infections, particularly with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the most relevant bacterium for CF patients. Initially, an intermittent pulmonary colonization by P. aeruginosa is observed, but the persistent isolation of P. aeruginosa in respiratory culture may subsequently occur; this stage is called chronic infection, which is characterized, in the clinical part, by the appearance of pulmonary exacerbations (PEX), and by the acquisition of the mucoid phenotype by P. aeruginosa in the microbiological respiratory culture, caused by the production of an exopolyssaccharide named alginate. This stage of infection is marked by an elevated IgG immune response, which is correlated with tissue damage and poor prognosis. Besides, serum of CF patients has a defective functional capacity, suggesting that the antipseudomonal antibodies in these patients might be of low avidity, which may result in defective antigen clearance and predisposition to immune complex disease. In this context, the aim of the present research project is to measure the avidity of antipseudomonal antibodies against a commercially available pooled antigen. (St-Ag:1-17) and alginate, and to measure the serum concentration of antibodies against P. aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Burkholderia cepacia complex, Achromobacter xylosoxidans, Aspergillus fumigatus and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia before and during the period of PEX. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MAUCH, RENAN MARRICHI; NORREGAARD, LENA LINGREN; CIOFU, OANA; LEVY, CARLOS EMILIO; HOIBY, NIELS. IgG avidity to Pseudomonas aeruginosa over the course of chronic lung biofilm infection in cystic fibrosis. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis, v. 17, n. 3, p. 356-359, MAY 2018. (15/26043-3)