lumacaftor--ivacaftor-drug-combination and Pseudomonas-Infections

The evidence base for modulator therapies in cystic fibrosis (CF) has continued to expand, and it is likely that up to 90% of people with CF could benefit. Worldwide there are however marked inequalities of access to basic CF care and modulator therapies. For infants and young children there is now an evidence base for inhaled hypertonic saline. There is increasing evidence that structural lung disease in CF is not due purely to infection and that mucus retention and inflammation are also key, and further evidence of the value of azithromycin in those chronically infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Finally, exercise is good for you, but airway clearance is better for mucus clearance.

Topics: Administration, Inhalation; Aminophenols; Aminopyridines; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Azithromycin; Benzodioxoles; Carrier State; Chloride Channel Agonists; Cystic Fibrosis; Drug Combinations; Exercise; Health Services Accessibility; Healthcare Disparities; Humans; Indoles; Inflammation; Physical Therapy Modalities; Pseudomonas Infections; Pyrazoles; Pyridines; Quinolines; Quinolones; Saline Solution, Hypertonic

This paper reviews the most important clinical papers in cystic fibrosis published in 2018, having searched all the literature on Pubmed. Focus is on CFTR modulator therapy, randomised controlled trials, and infection/microbiology issues.

Topics: Administration, Inhalation; Aminophenols; Aminopyridines; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Azithromycin; Benzodioxoles; Bronchoalveolar Lavage; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; Chloride Channel Agonists; Cough; Cross Infection; Cystic Fibrosis; Disease Progression; Drug Combinations; Drug Therapy, Combination; Humans; Indoles; Lung Transplantation; Microbiological Techniques; Mycobacterium abscessus; Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous; Nebulizers and Vaporizers; Proton Pump Inhibitors; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas Infections; Pyrazoles; Pyridines; Pyrrolidines; Quinolones; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Saline Solution, Hypertonic; Specimen Handling; Sputum; Treatment Outcome; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

Evolving cystic fibrosis 'standards of care' have influenced recent cystic fibrosis clinical trial designs for new therapies; care additions/improvements will require innovative trial designs to maximize feasibility and efficacy detection.. Three cystic fibrosis therapeutic areas (pulmonary exacerbations, Pseudomonas aeruginosa airway infections, and reduced cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator [CFTR] protein function) differ with respect to the duration for which recognized 'standards of care' have been available. However, developers of new therapies in all the three areas are affected by similar challenges: standards of care have become so strongly entrenched that traditional placebo-controlled studies in cystic fibrosis populations likely to benefit from newer therapies have become less and less feasible. Today, patients/clinicians are more likely to entertain participation in active-comparator trial designs, that have substantial challenges of their own. Foremost among these are the selection of 'valid' active comparator(s), estimation of a comparator's current clinical efficacy (required for testing noninferiority hypotheses), and effective blinding of commercially available comparators.. Recent and future cystic fibrosis clinical trial designs will have to creatively address this collateral result of successful past development of effective cystic fibrosis therapies: patients and clinicians are much less likely to accept simple, placebo-controlled studies to evaluate future therapies.

Topics: Aminophenols; Aminopyridines; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Benzodioxoles; Chloride Channel Agonists; Clinical Trials as Topic; Comparative Effectiveness Research; Cystic Fibrosis; Disease Progression; Drug Combinations; Humans; Pseudomonas Infections; Quinolones; Standard of Care; Treatment Outcome

Topics: Aminophenols; Aminopyridines; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; Benzodioxoles; Bronchi; Cell Line; Cystic Fibrosis; Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator; Drug Combinations; Humans; Mutation; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas Infections; Quinolones; Tobramycin

The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulators ivacaftor and lumacaftor/ivacaftor improve the status of existing infections in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). It is unknown how well these drugs protect patients against incident infections. We hypothesized that CFTR modulator treatment would decrease new infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Staphylococcus aureus.. We retrospectively studied a single-center cohort of patients with CF during two time periods (2008-2011, Era 1) and (2012-2015, Era 2) based on the January 2012 approval of ivacaftor. Using Kaplan-Meier analysis, we compared the time to any new infection with P. aeruginosa, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), or methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) that was absent during a 2-year baseline. We stratified the analysis based on whether patients received ivacaftor or lumacaftor/ivacaftor during Era 2. We used the log-rank test and considered P < 0.05 statistically significant.. For patients receiving ivacaftor or lumacaftor/ivacaftor in Era 2, there was a statistically significant delay in the time to new bacterial acquisition in Era 2 vs. Era 1 ( P = 0.008). For patients who did not receive CFTR modulators, there was a trend toward slower acquisition of new bacterial infections in Era 2 compared to Era 1, but this was not statistically significant ( P = 0.10).. Patients receiving ivacaftor or lumacaftor/ivacaftor for CF had significantly delayed acquisition of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus after these drugs were released. This method for analyzing incident infections may be useful for future studies of CFTR modulators and bacterial acquisition in CF registry cohorts.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aminophenols; Aminopyridines; Benzodioxoles; Child; Child, Preschool; Cystic Fibrosis; Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator; Drug Combinations; Female; Humans; Male; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas Infections; Quinolones; Retrospective Studies; Staphylococcal Infections; Staphylococcus aureus; Young Adult

Cystic fibrosis (CF), the most common lethal genetic disease in Caucasians, is characterized by chronic bacterial lung infection and excessive inflammation, which lead to progressive loss of lung function and premature death. Although ivacaftor (VX-770) alone and ivacaftor in combination with lumacaftor (VX-809) improve lung function in CF patients with the Gly551Asp and del508Phe mutations, respectively, the effects of these drugs on the function of human CF macrophages are unknown. Thus studies were conducted to examine the effects of lumacaftor alone and lumacaftor in combination with ivacaftor (i.e., ORKAMBI) on the ability of human CF ( del508Phe/ del508Phe) monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) to phagocytose and kill Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Lumacaftor alone restored the ability of CF MDMs to phagocytose and kill P. aeruginosa to levels observed in MDMs obtained from non-CF (WT-CFTR) donors. This effect contrasts with the partial (~15%) correction of del508Phe Cl

Topics: Aminophenols; Aminopyridines; Benzodioxoles; Cystic Fibrosis; Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator; Drug Combinations; Forced Expiratory Volume; Humans; Macrophages; Mutation; Phagocytosis; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas Infections; Quinolones

Despite the addition of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulators to the cystic fibrosis (CF) treatment regimen, patients with CF continue to suffer from chronic bacterial infections that lead to progressive respiratory morbidity. Host immunity, and macrophage dysfunction specifically, has an integral role in the inability of patients with CF to clear bacterial infections. We sought to characterize macrophage responses to CFTR modulator treatment as we hypothesized that there would be differential effects based on patient genotype. Human CF and non-CF peripheral blood monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) were analyzed for CFTR expression, apoptosis, polarization, phagocytosis, bacterial killing, and cytokine production via microscopy, flow cytometry, and ELISA-based assays. Compared to non-CF MDMs, CF MDMs display decreased CFTR expression, increased apoptosis, and decreased phagocytosis. CFTR expression increased and apoptosis decreased in response to ivacaftor or lumacaftor/ivacaftor therapy, and phagocytosis improved with ivacaftor alone. Ivacaftor restored CF macrophage polarization responses to non-CF levels and reduced Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial burden, but did not reduce other bacterial loads. Macrophage inflammatory cytokine production decreased in response to ivacaftor alone. In summary, ivacaftor and lumacaftor/ivacaftor have differential impacts on macrophage function with minimal changes observed in CF patients treated with lumacaftor/ivacaftor. Overall improvements in macrophage function in ivacaftor-treated CF patients result in modestly improved macrophage-mediated bacterial killing.

Topics: Adult; Aminophenols; Aminopyridines; Benzodioxoles; Case-Control Studies; Cystic Fibrosis; Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator; Cytokines; Drug Combinations; Female; Humans; Ion Transport; Macrophages; Male; Mutation; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas Infections; Quinolones; Signal Transduction