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Lookup NU author(s): Dr James Garnett
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a risk factor for respiratory infection, and hyperglycaemia is associated with increased glucose in airway surface liquid and risk of Staphylococcus aureus infection.OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether elevation of basolateral/blood glucose concentration promotes airway Staphylococcus aureus growth and whether pretreatment with the antidiabetic drug metformin affects this relationship.METHODS: Human airway epithelial cells grown at air-liquid interface (±18 h pre-treatment, 30 μM-1 mM metformin) were inoculated with 5×10(5) colony-forming units (CFU)/cm(2) S aureus 8325-4 or JE2 or Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01 on the apical surface and incubated for 7 h. Wild-type C57BL/6 or db/db (leptin receptor-deficient) mice, 6-10 weeks old, were treated with intraperitoneal phosphate-buffered saline or 40 mg/kg metformin for 2 days before intranasal inoculation with 1×10(7) CFU S aureus. Mice were culled 24 h after infection and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid collected.RESULTS: Apical S aureus growth increased with basolateral glucose concentration in an in vitro airway epithelia-bacteria co-culture model. S aureus reduced transepithelial electrical resistance (RT) and increased paracellular glucose flux. Metformin inhibited the glucose-induced growth of S aureus, increased RT and decreased glucose flux. Diabetic (db/db) mice infected with S aureus exhibited a higher bacterial load in their airways than control mice after 2 days and metformin treatment reversed this effect. Metformin did not decrease blood glucose but reduced paracellular flux across ex vivo murine tracheas.CONCLUSIONS: Hyperglycaemia promotes respiratory S aureus infection, and metformin modifies glucose flux across the airway epithelium to limit hyperglycaemia-induced bacterial growth. Metformin might, therefore, be of additional benefit in the prevention and treatment of respiratory infection.
Author(s): Garnett JP, Baker EH, Naik S, Lindsay JA, Knight GM, Gill S, Tregoning JS, Baines DL
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Thorax
Year: 2013
Volume: 68
Issue: 9
Pages: 835-845
Print publication date: 01/09/2013
Online publication date: 24/05/2013
Acceptance date: 28/04/2013
Date deposited: 29/06/2015
ISSN (print): 0040-6376
ISSN (electronic): 1468-3296
Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/thoraxjnl-2012-203178
DOI: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2012-203178
PubMed id: 23709760
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