The Revolutionary Way for You to Visualize Cystic Fibrosis Microbes

In the ongoing field of research for the treatment and cure of cystic fibrosis (CF), a new way to visualize the microbes (germs) in a patient’s lungs is making headline news.

Called an "open-source 3D spatial visualization tool”, it was developed to more thoroughly examine the microbiomes in the lungs of those with CF. (Cystic Fibrosis News Today/CF News)

To begin our understanding of this process, we’ll first look to Microbiome 101, to learn a bit about what a microbiome is.

The colonization of respiratory system bacteria with CF

Microbes live together throughout our bodies and form “communities” by creating “a sort of mini-ecosystem.” The replication of the bacteria is referred to as colonization.

We learn that an estimated “10,000 different microbial species occupy our body’s microbiome” which translates to “around 100 trillion organisms.”

In essence, then, the combination of the various pathogenic “communities” within our body constitutes our own particular microbiome.

And yet, some scientists consider the human microbiome can be spoken of to represent the microbes in a certain area, such as the lungs.

For this article, we will go with the latter definition.

We are told that many of those organisms are beneficial to the body (such as intestinal flora) while some are “disease-causing opportunistic microbes, also referred to as pathogens.”

Microbiomes in the lungs of those with CF

Researchers from a study in Madrid, Spain, found the extent of microbiomes in the lungs of those with CF to be “more complex than we believed.”

This information comes from research which studies the bacteria in sputum samples from 15 cystic fibrosis patients. The study was a year-long, allowing researchers to gain samples over a period of time, vs. a study at one point in time.

The research project was completed at the Microbiology Service at Ramón y Cayal University Hospital, and was posted online September 26, 2017.

Researchers found that each patient had his/her own bacterial makeup and that it remained pretty much constant during the year of study.

Isolated bacteria in the lungs of those with CF

From among the samples, the research team found 156 different types of bacteria, to include those common with CF: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Burkholderia and Pandorea.

Microorganisms have a never-ending choice of places to live, and a slew of new organisms are on “standby” to invade the lungs of those with CF.

CF is “a vicious (cycle) of inflammation and tissue destruction, which is triggered and maintained by the chronic bacterial colonization of the lower respiratory tract.” (senior study author Rosa del Campo.)

"It is generally acknowledged that once bacterial colonization is established in the lung, its eradication is almost impossible, despite consistent antibiotic treatment," she said.

These predatorial organisms provoke recurrent and chronic lung infections for those with this condition. One such predator is Pandorea.

Read on to learn more about how this revolutionary research is paving the way for the future of cystic fibrosis care.