Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disorder affecting 70,000 individuals worldwide. This disease is characterized by the buildup of mucus in the airways leading to chronic lung infections resulting in pulmonary failure and death in 95% of CF patients. Routine surveillance of CF pathogens using traditional microbiology culture guides management and treatment of CF patients. Molecular profiling studies have revealed emerging pathogens that may play a role in CF lung disease by either directly causing infection or upregulating the virulence factors of classic CF pathogens, such as P. aeruginosa; however, routine CF culture protocols have not been modified to detect these organisms. The goal of this study was to expand the data relevant to the use of microbiology cultures for the management and treatment of CF patients at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center (VCUMC) by directly selecting for emerging CF pathogens in culture. This was accomplished by developing,optimizing, and implementing an agar to select for colistin-resistant non-fermenting Gram- negative rods (NF GNRS). In addition, McKay agar and anaerobic media were utilized to recover members of the Streptococcus anginosus group (SAG) and anaerobes in CF respiratory samples. The prevalences of SAG, anaerobes, and colistin-resistant NF GNRs recovered on study media from 75 adult and pediatric CF patients at VCUMC were 17.33%, 41.33%, and 4% respectively. Approximately 62% of patients culture-positive for SAG were also infected with P. aeruginosa and 53.8% of SAG recovered in culture were from CF patients experiencing PE. These findings further support the claim that interspecies interactions among emerging and classic CF pathogens may result in periods of clinical instability or PE. Twenty-eight of the 75 patients were culture-positive for Veillonella species, with the majority of samples collected during a period of surveillance. Four colistin-resistant NF GNRs were isolated on the study media alone. The selective nature of the study media prevented the mixed respiratory flora and classic CF pathogens from overgrowing and obscuring the growth of these colistin-resistant NF GNRs. The presence and role of emerging pathogens in the CF patient population at VCUMC warrants further investigation; therefore, the routine culture protocol needs to be revised to recover and select for those organisms thought to play a role in PE and lung function decline.

Les entérobactéries productrices de carbapénèmases peuvent être responsables d’impasses thérapeutiques puisque ces souches sont multirésistantes aux antibiotiques. La colistine, un antibiotique de la famille des polymyxines, fait partie des molécules de derniers recours potentiellement utilisables pour le traitement des patients infectés par ces souches. Son utilisation est ainsi en augmentation constante mais des résistances émergent.Ce travail a contribué à l’amélioration du diagnostic de la résistance à la colistine par le développement de deux nouveaux outils diagnostiques : un test rapide, le Rapid Polymyxin NP test et un milieu de culture sélectif, la gélose SuperPolymyxin. Il a permis d’identifier de nouvelles mutations chromosomiques au sein des gènes pmrA, pmrB, phoP, phoQ, mgrB et crrB responsables de l’acquisition de résistances et d’hétérorésistance à la colistine chez K. pneumoniae et K. oxytoca. Il a révélé que les mutations chromosomiques et les résistances plasmidiques étaient additionnelles et pouvaient entraîner l’acquisition d’un haut niveau de résistance à la colistine chez E. coli. Il a permis d’identifier une épidémie de souches de K. pneumoniae productrices de la carbapénèmase OXA-48 et résistantes à la colistine en France en 2014. Il a démontré que Hafnia était un genre d’entérobactéries présentant une résistance naturelle de bas niveau à la colistine. Enfin, il a permis de proposer une option thérapeutique, le ceftazidime/avibactam en association ou non avec l’aztréonam, pour traiter les patients infectés par les souches de K. pneumoniae productrices de carbapénèmases et résistantes à la colistine.Ce travail a ainsi contribué à améliorer les connaissances sur la résistance à la colistine chez les BGN au niveau du diagnostic, des mécanismes de résistance acquis, des résistances naturelles, et de l’épidémiologie et a permis de proposer des combinaisons d’antibiotiques actives in vitro sur les souches de K. pneumoniae productrices de carbapénèmases et résistantes à la colistine. / Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae may be responsible for therapeutic impasses since these strains are multidrug-resistant. Colistin, an antibiotic of the polymyxin family, is one of the last-resort molecules potentially usable for the treatment of patients infected with these strains. Its use is thus constantly increasing but resistances emerge.This work contributed to improve the diagnosis of colistin resistance by developing two new diagnostic tools: a rapid test, the Rapid Polymyxin NP test and a selective culture medium, the SuperPolymyxin agar. It identified new chromosomal mutations within the pmrA, pmrB, phoP, phoQ, mgrB and crrB genes responsible for the acquisition of colistin resistance and heteroresistance in K. pneumoniae and K. oxytoca. It revealed that chromosomal mutations and plasmid resistance were additional and could lead to the acquisition of a high level of colistin resistance in E. coli. It identified an outbreak caused by colistin-resistant OXA-48-producing K. pneumoniae strains in France in 2014. It demonstrated that Hafnia was a genus of enterobacteria with low-level intrinsic resistance to colistin. Finally, it suggested a therapeutic option, the ceftazidime / avibactam in combination or not with aztreonam, to treat patients infected with colistin-resistant and carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae.This work has significantly contributed to improve the knowledge of colistin resistance in Gram negatives in diagnostic, in characterization of acquired or intrinsic resistance mechanisms, and in epidemiology.