Sputum Iron Levels During Cystic Fibrosis Pulmonary Exacerbation: A Longitudinal Study

The airways of patients with cystic fibrosis are frequently colonized with bacteria, particularly Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Repeated pulmonary exacerbations contribute to decline in lung function. Iron is an important cofactor in bacterial growth and biofilm production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We demonstrated sputum ferrous iron and Pseudomonas bacterial burden are associated with worse lung function as measured by FEV_1 in cross-sectional studies. Ferrous iron constitutes a greater amount of total iron measured as lung function worsens. We hypothesized that sputum iron will decrease as lung function improves over the course of pulmonary exacerbation