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Updated: Jun 15, 2025

Antibiotic Efficacy Testing in an Ex vivo Model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms in the Cystic Fibrosis Lung
Published on: January 22, 2021
Thymidine-dependent Staphylococcus aureus and lung function in patients with cystic fibrosis: a 10-year retrospective
Ana Paula de Oliveira Tomaz1,2, Dilair Camargo de Souza1, Laura Lucia Cogo1
1. Laboratório de Bacteriologia, Complexo Hospital de Clínicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba (PR) Brasil.
Objective:
Thymidine-dependent small-colony variants (TD-SCVs) of Staphylococcus aureus are being isolated with increasing frequency from patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between TD-SCV isolation and pulmonary function in patients with CF, as well as to determine whether the emergence of TD-SCVs was associated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) use and with coinfection with other microorganisms.
Methods:
This was a retrospective case-control study including patients with CF who visited the Clinical Hospital Complex of the Federal University of Paraná, in Curitiba, Brazil, between 2013 and 2022. Demographic, clinical, and spirometric data, as well as information on TD-SCVs and other isolated microorganisms, were collected from the medical records of patients with CF and TD-SCVs (TD-SCV group; n = 32) and compared with those of a matched group of patients with CF without TD-SCVs (control group; n = 64).
Results:
Isolation of TD-SCVs was positively associated with TMP-SMX use (p = 0.009), hospitalization (p < 0.001), and impaired pulmonary function (p = 0.04).
Conclusions:
The use of TMP-SMX seems to contribute to the emergence of TD-SCVs, the isolation of which was directly associated with worse pulmonary function in our sample.
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