Publications by authors named "Edith T Zemanick"

Objective: A number of disease-modifying therapies have been introduced for people with cystic fibrosis (CF) over the past two decades. The cumulative effects of this changing landscape on cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD) are unclear. We examined trends in CFRD epidemiology over time using data from the U.

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Objective: Although studies have examined changes in C-reactive protein (CRP) during pulmonary exacerbations (PEX) in people with cystic fibrosis (PwCF), few have evaluated CRP profiles across age groups. Here, we characterize age-related CRP responses to PEX treatment.

Methods: We measured CRP concentrations at the beginning and end of intravenous (IV) antibiotic therapy for PEX in 100 pediatric and 147 adult PwCF at 10 US CF Centers.

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Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and olfactory dysfunction (OD) are prevalent disease complications in people with cystic fibrosis. These understudied comorbidities significantly impact quality of life. The impact of highly effective modulator therapy (HEMT) in young children with cystic fibrosis (YCwCF) on these disease complications is unknown.

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Background: Highly effective CFTR modulators improve CFTR function and lead to dramatic improvements in health outcomes in many people with cystic fibrosis (pwCF). The relationship between measures of CFTR function, such as sweat chloride concentration, and clinical outcomes in pwCF treated with CFTR modulators is poorly defined. We conducted analyses to better understand the relationships between sweat chloride and CFTR function in vitro, and between sweat chloride and clinical outcomes following CFTR modulator treatment.

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As cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulator therapies including elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor (ETI) have become widely used in eligible patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), the use of these medications in pregnant people has become a critical area of investigation. Since these medications appear generally safe to both mother and fetus when taken by pregnant people with CF, interest has pivoted to the use of ETI in CF carrier mothers to decrease morbidity and mortality from meconium ileus (MI) in fetuses with cystic fibrosis. Here we discuss three infants at our institution with ultrasound findings of MI who were exposed to prenatal ETI through CF carrier mothers for the purposes of treating MI and lowering risk of intestinal complications from this severe manifestation of CF.

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Numerous studies have examined the role of the microbiome and microbiome-based therapeutics in many childhood airway and lung diseases. In this narrative review, the authors first give a brief overview of the current methods used in microbiome research. The authors then review the literature linking the microbiome with (1) early-life acute respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus, (2) childhood asthma onset, (3) cystic fibrosis, and (4) bronchopulmonary dysplasia, focusing on recent studies that have used culture-independent methods to characterize the respiratory or gut microbiome in the pediatric population.

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The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid shift in clinical research to perform virtual visits and remote endpoint assessments, providing a key opportunity to optimize the use of remote endpoints for clinical trials in cystic fibrosis. The use of remote endpoints could allow more diverse participation in clinical trials while minimizing participant burden but must be robustly evaluated to ensure adequate performance and feasibility. In response, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation convened the Remote Endpoint Task Force (Supplemental Table 1), a multidisciplinary group of CF researchers with remote endpoint expertise and community members tasked to better understand the current and future use of remote endpoints for clinical research.

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Host response to airway infections can vary widely. Cystic fibrosis (CF) pulmonary exacerbations provide an opportunity to better understand the interplay between respiratory microbes and the host. This study aimed to investigate the observed heterogeneity in airway infection recovery by analyzing microbiome and host response (i.

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Background: Olfactory dysfunction (OD) is prevalent in people with cystic fibrosis (PwCF) and can negatively impact quality-of-life (QOL). This study evaluated perceptions of OD, investigated how OD impacts QOL, and assessed willingness to participate in OD research among the CF community.

Methods: A 21-question survey was distributed through the CF Foundation's Community Voice program in 2023.

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Background: Tobramycin inhalation solution (TIS) and chronic azithromycin (AZ) have known clinical benefits for children with CF, likely due to antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity. The effects of chronic AZ in combination with TIS on the airway microbiome have not been extensively investigated. Oropharyngeal swab samples were collected in the OPTIMIZE multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled trial examining the addition of AZ to TIS in 198 children with CF and early P.

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The growing use of modulator therapies aimed at restoring cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein function in people with cystic fibrosis has fundamentally altered clinical trial strategies needed to advance new therapeutics across an orphan disease population that is now divided by CFTR modulator eligibility. The development of a robust pipeline of nucleic acid-based therapies (NABTs)-initially directed towards the estimated 10% of the cystic fibrosis population who are genetically ineligible for, or intolerant of, CFTR modulators-is dependent on the optimisation of restricted trial participant resources across multiple development programmes, a challenge that will preclude the use of gold standard placebo-controlled trials. Advancement of a full pipeline of symptomatic therapies across the entire cystic fibrosis population will be challenged by smaller effect sizes and uncertainty regarding their clinical importance in a growing modulator-treated population with more mild and stable pulmonary disease.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to assess the feasibility of a clinical trial evaluating two outpatient treatments for mild pulmonary exacerbations (PEx) in children with cystic fibrosis (CF).
  • Participants aged 6-18 were randomly assigned to receive either immediate oral antibiotics or tailored therapy, which emphasized increased airway clearance and only added antibiotics under specific conditions.
  • Results showed that 70% of those in the tailored therapy group successfully avoided antibiotics, indicating that this approach may help reduce antibiotic use in managing mild PEx and that conducting such a trial is possible.
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(Af) is a mold frequently detected in airway samples from people with cystic fibrosis (pwCF). Abnormal airway mucus may allow Af to germinate, resulting in airway infection or an allergic response. While Af is known to increase morbidity in pwCF, individual responses and the degree of impact on lung disease vary.

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Background: Changes in upper airway microbiota may impact early disease manifestations in infants with cystic fibrosis (CF). To investigate early airway microbiota, the microbiota present in the oropharynx of CF infants over the first year of life was assessed along with the relationships between microbiota and growth, antibiotic use and other clinical variables.

Methods: Oropharyngeal (OP) swabs were collected longitudinally between 1 and 12 months of age from infants diagnosed with CF by newborn screen and enrolled in the Baby Observational and Nutrition Study (BONUS).

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Background: Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) are used commonly to administer antibiotics to people with cystic fibrosis (CF), but their use can be complicated by venous thrombosis and catheter occlusion.

Research Question: Which participant-, catheter-, and catheter management-level attributes are associated with increased risk of complications of PICCs among people with CF?

Study Design And Methods: This was a prospective observational study of adults and children with CF who received PICCs at 10 CF care centers in the United States. The primary end point was defined as occlusion of the catheter resulting in unplanned removal, symptomatic venous thrombosis in the extremity containing the catheter, or both.

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Introduction: Cystic fibrosis is a life-limiting, autosomal recessive genetic disorder resulting in multi-organ disease due to CF transmembrane conductance regulator () protein dysfunction. CF treatment previously focused on mitigation of disease signs and symptoms. The recent introduction of highly effective CFTR modulators, for which ~90% of people with CF are CFTR variant-eligible, has resulted in substantial health improvements.

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Introduction: Pulmonary exacerbations (PEx) in persons with cystic fibrosis (CF) are primarily related to acute or chronic inflammation associated with bacterial lung infections, which may be caused by several bacteria that activate similar bacterial genes and produce similar by-products. The goal of our study was to perform a stratified functional analysis of bacterial genes at three distinct time points in the treatment of a PEx in order to determine the role that specific airway microbiome community members may play within each clinical state (i.e.

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Article Synopsis
  • PwCF experience lung infections that can lead to pulmonary exacerbations (PEx), and the study looks at how antibiotics affect microbial diversity and lung function recovery.
  • The researchers hypothesized that using lower doses of broad-spectrum antibiotics would reduce microbial diversity, potentially impacting lung recovery.
  • In a retrospective study involving 22 participants, they found that antibiotics with therapeutic levels and broader spectrum caused a greater decrease in microbial diversity, but did not significantly impact lung function recovery after treatment.
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Background: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by recurrent pulmonary exacerbations (PEx) and lung function decline. PEx are frequently treated with antibiotics. However, little is known about the effects of antibiotics on the airway microbiome of persons with CF over time.

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Article Synopsis
  • Clinical trials for cystic fibrosis often use time to first pulmonary exacerbation (PEx) or total PEx count as endpoints, yet these methods might overlook important patterns in multiple exacerbations.
  • Analyzing the time gaps between PEx can help identify risks for future exacerbations and estimate how long patients need to be monitored post-exacerbation.
  • A study found that including a change point model improved the understanding of exacerbation risks, indicating that factors like F508 mutation copies, female sex, and previous PEx history significantly affected future exacerbation risks.
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The airway microbiota has been linked to specific paediatric respiratory diseases, but studies are often small. It remains unclear whether particular bacteria are associated with a given disease, or if a more general, non-specific microbiota association with disease exists, as suggested for the gut. We investigated overarching patterns of bacterial association with acute and chronic paediatric respiratory disease in an individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences from published respiratory microbiota studies.

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Background: Individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) and fungal airway infection may present with fungal bronchitis, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) or may appear unaffected despite fungal detection. We sought to characterize people with CF with frequent detection of fungi from airway samples and determine clinical outcomes.

Methods: This retrospective study included individuals with CF with ≥4 lower airway cultures over a 2-year baseline period and ≥2 years of follow-up.

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Background: The role of anaerobic organisms in the cystic fibrosis (CF) lung microbiome is unclear. Our objectives were to investigate the effect of broad (BS) versus narrow (NS) spectrum antianaerobic antibiotic activity on lung microbiome diversity and pulmonary function, hypothesizing that BS antibiotics would cause greater change in microbiome diversity without a significant improvement in lung function.

Methods: Pulmonary function tests and respiratory samples were collected prospectively in persons with CF before and after treatment for pulmonary exacerbations.

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Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene, leading to dysfunction of the CFTR protein. CFTR dysfunction leads to disease in the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. Disorders of the cardiovascular system in individuals with CF are usually attributed to secondary effects from progressive lung disease.

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