OROPHARYNGEAL BACTERIAL FLORA IN ASTHMATIC PATIENTS USING STEROID THERAPY
1Necip Fazıl Şehir Hastanesi, Tıbbi Mikrobiyoloji Laboratuvarı, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey2Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Kulak Burun Boğaz Anabilim Dalı, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey
3Necip Fazıl Şehir Hastanesi, Göğüs Hastalıkları, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey
4Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi Tıp fakültesi, Medkal Mikrobiyoloji Anabilim Dalı, Trabzon, Turkey
5Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Göğüs hastalıkları Anabilim Dalı, Kahramanmaras, Turkey
6Denizli Pamukkale Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi, Biyoistatistik ve Tıbbi Bilişim, Denizli, Turkey Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences in oropharyngeal microbiota in patients with asthma who were using inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) compared to those in healthy individuals.
Materials and Methods: A sample consisting of 100 oropharyngeal swabs was analyzed between April 2016 and May 2016. Due to recurrence, 1 asthmatic patient was excluded from the study. Common bacteriological culture techniques and the Vitek version 2.0 (Biomerieux, France) automatization systems were used to obtain the bacteriological diagnosis.
Results: The isolation of transitory flora bacteria in the control group was 88%, and 79.6 % in asthmatic group. There were no significant differences between the groups in respect of the cultured bacteria. Bacteria were recovered in 10/49 samples from the asthmatic patients and in 6/50 samples from the non-asthmatic subjects. In the asthmatic group all the growths were those of female patients and in the control group all were male. A statistically significant association was determined in respect of gender and the presence of growth bacteria in the asthmatic patients (p:0.042). Cultured bacteria were observed to increase with age in the control group (p:0.021). There was no significant association in respect of the use of ICS and the presence of growth bacteria in the asthmatic patients (p = 0.838 ).
Conclusions: E. coli, Klebsiella spp., Pseudomonas spp., Acinetobacter spp., Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA), Streptococcus pyogenes were found in the oropharyngeal swab specimens of the asthmatic subjects, as well as in some of the non-asthmatic group. Inhaled corticosteroids were not seen to have any obvious effect on oropharyngeal flora in the patients with asthma, which suggested that inhaled corticosteroids are safe for the treatment of bronchial asthma.
Keywords : Asthma, oropharynx, infection, corticosteroid