Effects of antibiotics on adherence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Pseudomonas fluorescens to A549 pneumocyte cells.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of antibiotics at subminimal inhibitory concentrations (sub-MIC) on fluorescent pseudomonas adherence to A549 pneumocyte cells. Pseudomonas fluorescens MF0 isolated from contaminated raw milk and Pseudomonas aeruginosa NK125502 isolated from a cystic fibrosis patient's lung adhered to A549 cells. As previously shown for P. aeruginosa, P. fluorescens bound to A549 cells in a dose-dependent manner over a wide range of bacterial concentrations. Bacterial growth in the presence of polymyxin B or gentamicin at MIC/2 had no effect on the adherence of NK125502 and MF0 to A549 cells. Instead, MIC/2 and MIC/8 of cefsulodin or chloramphenicol decreased the adherence of the two strains. A decrease in MF0 adherence was also observed with cefsulodin at MIC/32. We conclude that, in addition to their antibacterial activity, cefsulodin and chloramphenicol could be effective in preventing Pseudomonas adherence to respiratory epithelium. Copyright 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.