Microbial Interactions & Microbial Ecology

Biography

Biography: Annamaria Bevivino

Abstract

Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) can experience periodic episodes of acute pulmonary exacerbation, which are associated with a poor health-related quality of life, disease progression, and survival. Only recently scientists began to appreciate the complexity of CF polymicrobial infection and the implications it may have for disease prognosis and response to therapy. New insight into the impact of antibiotic treatment, patient age increasing, and periodic pulmonary exacerbation on CF microbiology has been obtained. Anyway, the analysis of both taxonomic assessment of CF microbiome and its functional potential (ie which genes and pathways are present) have not been investigated yet. Understanding the role of the CF airway microbiota and detecting microbial species associated with the decline in lung function are key challenges for the delivery of new potential biomarkers for bacterial infections managements in CF patients and improving healthcare treatment. Here, I will present the state of the art on CF microbiome and describe the complex interaction networks underlying the host‐lung microbiome interaction at taxonomic and functional level. Finally, data from a longitudinal study of the airway microbiome in CF will be presented, paying special attention to the episodes of exacerbation, by using shotgun metagenomic sequencing that permits targeting the entire genomic repertoire of the microbial community, down to the strain level. Overall, such results suggest the need for future development of personalized therapeutic approaches based on patient-specific airways microbiome. These new insights may alter future clinical management of CF. This work was supported by Grants from Italian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (FFC#8/2012; FFC#10/2014; FFC#14/2015; FFC#19/2017).