Pseudomonas Aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an antibiotic resistant, gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium. It infects animals, plants and particularly immunocompromised individuals with high susceptibility to lung infections such as cystic fibrosis (CF) patients (Bernard, Renne, Tong-Jun, Zheng & Zhenyu, 2019). Inheriting two mutated copies of the CFTR gene reduces epithelial cell membrane function causing CF. Less and thicker mucous is produced which captures p. aeruginosa and then can’t diffuse into epithelial cells causing chronic inflammation, lung damage and respiratory disease. This results in an average life expectancy of 32 years (Higgins, 2009). P. aeruginosa creates a biofilm in the lungs, preventing antibiotics such as quinolones, which disrupt DNA replication, reaching bacterial cells. The low permeable outer membrane of p. aeruginosa prevents antibiotic diffusion while β-lactamase ensures antibiotic removal from the cell (Bernard et al., 2019). The need for alternatives to antibiotics resulted in research using pig lungs which led to quorum sensing, showing the evolution of antibiotic resistant bacteria (Thompson, 2015). Anti-inflammatory drugs and physiotherapy have proven effective treatments of p. aeruginosa along with early diagnosis. Since 2008 in the UK babies are screened for CF in week one of life, resulting in treatment within a month if two mutated copies of the CFTR gene are present (Higgins, 2009).