Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms in the respiratory tract of cystic fibrosis patients

The present study was undertaken to investigate the appearance and location of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the cystic fibrosis (CF) lung and in sputum. Samples include preserved tissues of CF patients who died due to chronic P. aeruginosa lung infection prior to the advent of intensive antibiotic therapy, explanted lungs from 3 intensively treated chronically P. aeruginosa infected CF patients and routine sputum from 77 chronically P. aeruginosa infected CF patients. All samples were investigated microscopically using hematoxylin-eosin (HE), Gram and alcian-blue stain, PNA FISH and immunofluorescence for alginate.Investigation of the preserved tissues revealed that prior to aggressive antibiotic therapy, P.…