MACROLIDE RESISTANCE IN PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA DUE TO UL4 AND UL22 RIBOSOMAL MUTATIONS
Keywords:
Antibiotics, macrolides, effects, mutations.Abstract
Antibiotics called macrolides are frequently used to treat bacterial airway infections. Testing for antibiotic sensitivity to macrolides is not done since Pseudomonas aeruginosa is regarded as innately resistant due to its high minimum inhibitory concentration in standardized culture medium. However, macrolides are utilized to treat persistent P. aeruginosa infections because of their immunomodulatory action and reduction of virulence factors. Here, we use an AirLiquid Interface (ALI) infection model system that mimics the human airways to show that macrolides are, in fact, effective antibiotics against P. aeruginosa airway infections. Crucially, the use of macrolides in patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia and cystic fibrosis induces P. aeruginosa to accumulate uL4 and uL22 ribosomal protein mutations, which results in antibiotic resistance.
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