Effects of five antibiotics on adhesion and haemagglutinating properties of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from cystic fibrosis patients.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro effect of five antibiotics at sub-inhibitory concentrations on the adhesive and haemagglutinating properties of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from cystic fibrosis sputa. Eleven isolates (mucoid and non-mucoid) from cystic fibrosis, and four isolates (mucoid and non-mucoid) from other chronic respiratory infections were tested. The adhesion test was performed on human lymphoblastoid cell-lines; the haemagglutination test used human O+ and guinea-pig erythrocytes. The antibiotics were tested at six sub-inhibitory concentrations, from MIC/2 to MIC/64. Among the five antibiotics, cefsulodin and pefloxacin were the most active in decreasing the adhesive properties: this effect was statistically significant at MIC/2 and MIC/4 for cefsulodin and at all sub-inhibitory concentrations for pefloxacin. No differences appeared between mucoid and non-mucoid strains, and no correlation was noted with their clinical origins. The three other antibiotics (ceftazidime, latamoxef and imipenem) had no significant effect on the adhesion of all the strains tested, but their effect was rather strain-dependent. This fact and the heterogeneity found in adherence and haemagglutinating activity of each strain suggest that the adhesins and the haemagglutinins of P. aeruginosa are very complex structures.