Ascites microbiota and biofilms on peritoneal drainage catheters
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Examining the relationship of biofilms on peritoneal drainage catheters with stool and ascites microbiota in patients with decompensated cirrhosis and portal hypertension.
IRAS ID
332436
Contact name
Mark Wright
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
Our body and its surfaces, both inside and out is normally home to many different types of bacteria which most of the time we would view as “friendly” and probably important to our good health. In certain diseases such as that of the liver, the make up of this bacterial community can change and start to cause harm. We know from previous work that people with liver disease who develop ascites (a build up of fluid in their abdomens/ tummy) are prone to sepsis which can be driven by these bacteria. In this work we want to study the types of bacteria in the ascites fluid and understand what makes them cause sepsis and ill health. We often drain this fluid by inserting thin tubes (drains) into the abdomen and we want to see if the bacteria grow on these tubes and whether we may be inadvertently contributing to the risk of sepsis.
In order to study this we will be asking patients for their permission to use the fluid that we take from them as part of their normal care and also the drains, and instead of throwing these away (which is what we normally do) study the fluid and drain for the presence and type of bacteria. We will also be asking for permission to access medical records so that we can match what we find with the health of the patients.
With the fluid samples we can test for the presence, type and relative abundance of different bacteria. We can also test for genes that make them more likely to cause disease (virulence factors) and also for genes that might make them resistant to antibiotics. With the removed drains we can use similar techniques and also powerful microscopes to look at bacteria stuck to the surfaces (biofilms).REC name
South Central - Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/SC/0362
Date of REC Opinion
16 Oct 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion