{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T02:30:12Z","timestamp":1781058612448,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,18]],"date-time":"2025-03-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1742256000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000925","name":"National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC, Australia)","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2020\/GNT1194358"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020\/GNT1194358"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000925","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients experience higher risks of colorectal cancer but the pathogenesis is unclear. In the general population, polyketide synthase-positive (pks+) E.\u00a0coli is implicated in intestinal carcinogenesis via the production of colibactin; however, the relevance in CF is unknown. In this study, we investigate pks+E. coli prevalence in CF and potential associations between pks+E.\u00a0coli, gastrointestinal inflammation, and microbiome dynamics with fecal calprotectin and 16SrRNA gene taxonomic data. Cross-sectional analysis demonstrated no difference in pks+E. coli carriage between CF patients and healthy controls, 21\/55 (38%) vs. 26\/55 (47%), p = 0.32. Pks+E. coli was not associated with significant differences in mean (SD) calprotectin concentration (124 (154) vs. 158 (268) mg\/kg; p = 0.60), microbial richness (159 (76.5) vs. 147 (70.4); p = 0.50) or Shannon diversity index (2.78 (0.77) vs. 2.65 (0.74); p = 0.50) in CF. Additionally, there was no association with exocrine pancreatic status (p = 0.2) or overall antibiotic use (p = 0.6). Longitudinally, CF subjects demonstrated intra-individual variation in pks+E. coli presence but no significant difference in overall prevalence. Future investigation into the effects of repeat exposure on risk profile and analysis of older CF cohorts is necessary to identify if associations with colorectal cancer exist.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms13030681","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,18]],"date-time":"2025-03-18T10:43:51Z","timestamp":1742294631000},"page":"681","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["The Prevalence of Polyketide Synthase-Positive E. coli in Cystic Fibrosis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-6535-2245","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christopher","family":"Chan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Clinical Medicine, Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health, UNSW Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Coffey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Clinical Medicine, Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health, UNSW Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia"},{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology, Sydney Children\u2019s Hospital, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Caitlin","family":"Murphy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Clinical Medicine, Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health, UNSW Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Isabelle","family":"McKay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Clinical Medicine, Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health, UNSW Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jumaana","family":"Abdu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Clinical Medicine, Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health, UNSW Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Keerti","family":"Paida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Clinical Medicine, Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health, UNSW Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rachel Y.","family":"Tam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Clinical Medicine, Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health, UNSW Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2031, 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Hospital, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yvonne","family":"Belessis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Respiratory Medicine, Sydney Children\u2019s Hospital, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5119-371X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sandra","family":"Chuang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Clinical Medicine, Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health, UNSW Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia"},{"name":"Department of Respiratory Medicine, Sydney Children\u2019s Hospital, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adam","family":"Jaffe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Clinical Medicine, Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health, UNSW Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia"},{"name":"Department of Respiratory Medicine, Sydney Children\u2019s Hospital, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Josie","family":"van Dorst","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Clinical Medicine, Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health, UNSW Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chee Y.","family":"Ooi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Clinical Medicine, Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health, UNSW Medicine & Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia"},{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology, Sydney Children\u2019s Hospital, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Coffey, M.J., Nielsen, S., Wemheuer, B., Kaakoush, N.O., Garg, M., Needham, B., Pickford, R., Jaffe, A., Thomas, T., and Ooi, C.Y. 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