Genotypic studies ofpseudomonas aeruginosaisolates from adult non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis patients

Bronchiectasis is characterised by persistent infection resulting in permanent damage to the lungs, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. In genetic forms of bronchiectasis such as Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) infections reduce life expectancy in CF patients. In CF epidemic PA strains are associated with poorer outcomes. Persistent infection with PA in NCFBr is adversely prognostic but significant studies of PA biology and epidemic strains are lacking in NCFBr. The aim of this project is to address this extending work from De Soyza et al ERJ 2014. Methods: Array Tube genotyping on isolates from a PA collection obtained from 56 patients (2007 – 2014) attending an adult NCFBr centre, Newcastle UK cross-sectionally and longitudinally in 11 patients. We studied PA isolates using specific PCR for 3 common UK transmissible strains. Results: Although most PA were identified as unique clones, some common PA clones were identified in multiple patients. PCR screening for 3 common UK transmissible strains revealed the presence of the Midlands-1 Epidemic strain in only one patient. Longitudinal screening demonstrated that 9 patients out of 11 retained the same infecting strain for a period of 3 to 35 months. Conclusions and future work: We have identified that epidemic strains are rare in NCFBr but that epidemic strains can infect NCFBr patients. These data provide insights to the PA biology in NCFBr. We will use whole genome sequencing to further study the P. aeruginosa population structure in NCFBr and how these populations change over time during lung infections. A Multi –centre study across 9 sites in the UK is underway.