Persistence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa during ciprofloxacin therapy of a cystic fibrosis patient: transient resistance to quinolones and protein F-deficiency.

The mechanism of persistence was characterized in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates obtained ten days before (4405), on the tenth day of (4419), and four days after (4478) ciprofloxacin therapy in a cystic fibrosis patient. Isolate 4419 showed a 16-fold increase in resistance to ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and nalidixic acid. The outer membrane of 4419 had no detectable protein F. A modified lipopolysaccharide profile, a longer lag phase before growth and a slower generation time were also noted for isolate 4419. Cell surface hydrophobicity was increased by 20% in 4419 whereas uptake of [14C]ciprofloxacin was equivalent in all three isolates. Ciprofloxacin doses causing 50% inhibition of DNA synthesis were proportional to MICs for each isolate indicating that the DNA gyrase of 4419 was resistant to quinolones. A quinolone-susceptible revertant of 4419 remained deficient in protein F. Protein F-deficiency was not associated with resistance to quinolones, nor to other antibiotics, supporting the view that it plays little role in outer membrane permeability to antibiotics.