A 9 year old boy with cystic fibrosis – a genetic disease that causes a number of problems, including the build-up of thick sticky mucus in the lungs- complained of increasing fatigue, shortness of breath and worsening cough. When his mother took him to the doctor, she mentioned that his cough was a blue green color. His doctor immediately suspected a lung infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa a common complication of cystic fibrosis. A sputum was collected and sent to the clinical laboratory. In the Clinical laboratory, the sample was plated onto Mac Conkey agar and blood gar and incubated. Mucoid colonies surrounded by bluish green color grew on both types of agar media. The colonies on Mac Conkey had no pink coloration, so the medical technologist concluded that the cells did not ferment lactose. She noted that the blue green color on the agar plates and in the sputum, knowing that P.aeruginosa makes several pigmented compounds that give rise to colors ranging from yellow to blue. One of the pigments function as siderophore which is a molecule that binds iron. Another is important for biofilm formation. Further testing showed that the bacterium was an oxidase positive. Gram negative rod, consistent with the physician’s initial suspicion. The patient was treated with antibiotics, with only limited success. Like most cystic fibrosis patients, he developed a chronic lung infection that continued to require repeated treatment. Question: What role did cystic fibrosis play in the disease process?
A 9 year old boy with cystic fibrosis – a genetic disease that causes a number of problems, including the build-up of thick sticky mucus in the lungs- complained of increasing fatigue, shortness of breath and worsening cough. When his mother took him to the doctor, she mentioned that his cough was a blue green color. His doctor immediately suspected a lung infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa a common complication of cystic fibrosis. A sputum was collected and sent to the clinical laboratory.
In the Clinical laboratory, the sample was plated onto Mac Conkey agar and blood gar and incubated. Mucoid colonies surrounded by bluish green color grew on both types of agar media. The colonies on Mac Conkey had no pink coloration, so the medical technologist concluded that the cells did not ferment lactose. She noted that the blue green color on the agar plates and in the sputum, knowing that P.aeruginosa makes several pigmented compounds that give rise to colors ranging from yellow to blue. One of the pigments function as siderophore which is a molecule that binds iron. Another is important for biofilm formation. Further testing showed that the bacterium was an oxidase positive. Gram negative rod, consistent with the physician’s initial suspicion.
The patient was treated with antibiotics, with only limited success. Like most cystic fibrosis patients, he developed a chronic lung infection that continued to require repeated treatment.
Question: What role did cystic fibrosis play in the disease process?
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