Effect of antimicrobials on the polymicrobial infection by Aspergillus fumigatus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

• Grant number: 17/26076-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2018
• End date: December 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Kelly Ishida
• Grantee: Bruna Nakanishi Fortes
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Polymicrobial infections are becoming increasingly important since they rely on mixed biofilm formation, antimicrobial resistance increase, immunological evasion, less growth time and a number of other factors. One of the examples is the interaction between Aspergillus fumigatus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, very common in cystic fibrosis disease, leading to an intensification of the inflammatory response and consequently leading to a greater tissue damage of the respiratory tract. The association of fungi and bacteria represents a difficulty in the treatment, because they are pathogens with several different characteristics. However, the presence of ² (1,3) D-glucan in both the fungal cell wall and in the bacterial cyclic periplasmic, and also, constituting the extracellular matrix of biofilms of both, opens the possibility for a monotherapy of mixed infections with echinocandins. Therefore, in addition to the antifungal effect of the echinocandin, this drug can have a great importance as antibacterial. Thus, this project aims to evaluate the effect of caspofungin on the polymicrobial infection of A. fumigatus and P. aeruginosa, making possible an improvement in the inflammatory symptoms of cystic fibrosis.

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)

FORTES, BRUNA NAKANISHI; SCHEUNEMANN, GABY; MELO, ANALY SALLES DE AZEVEDO; ISHIDA, KELLY. Caspofungin alone or combined with polymyxin B are effective against mixed biofilm of Aspergillus fumigatus and carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Research in Microbiology, v. 174, n. 1-2, p. 9-pg., 2023-01-01. (17/26076-4, 17/19374-9, 20/11486-5)

FERNANDES, LUCIANA; FORTES, BRUNA NAKANISHI; LINCOPAN, NILTON; ISHIDA, KELLY. Caspofungin and Polymyxin B Reduce the Cell Viability and Total Biomass of Mixed Biofilms of Carbapenem-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida spp.. FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY, v. 11, DEC 16 2020. (17/26076-4, 17/19374-9)

SCHEUNEMANN, GABY; FORTES, BRUNA N.; LINCOPAN, NILTON; ISHIDA, KELLY. aspofungin Inhibits Mixed Biofilms of Candida albicans and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Displays Effectiveness in Coinfected Galleria mellonella Larva. MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM, v. 9, n. 2, OCT 2021. (17/26076-4, 17/19374-9)