Elexacaftor–tezacaftor–ivacaftor decreases pseudomonas abundance in the sinonasal microbiome in cystic fibrosis

Background Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is common in individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) and is marked by chronic inflammation and episodes of infection that negatively impact quality of life. Several studies have shown that elexacaftor–tezacaftor–ivacaftor (ETI) improves symptoms and examination findings in CF‐CRS. The current study determines the effect of ETI on the sinonasal microbiota in CF. Methods Sinonasal samples were collected under endoscopic visualization before and after starting ETI. Samples were subjected to 16S amplicon sequencing and sequences were processed with the QIIME2 pipeline with subsequent analysis using the vegan R‐package. Results Twenty‐nine individual baseline samples and 23 sample pairs pre‐/post‐ETI were available. At baseline, the cohort had samples dominated by Staphylococcus, and alpha diversity was lower than that of a published reference set of individuals without sinonasal disease. Individuals with prior sinus surgery had lower alpha diversity as measured by Shannon Index, Observed Richness, and Faith's phylogenetic diversity Index. Beta diversity differed between individuals with and without allergic rhinitis, with higher Staphylococcus abundance in those with allergic rhinitis. No change in alpha or beta diversity was seen after a median of 9 months on ETI. With ETI, the Pseudomonas genus and the genus containing Burkholderia decreased in samples containing these taxa at baseline. Pseudomonas abundance decreased with treatment as measured by qPCR. Core sinonasal microbiome members Staphylococcus, Corynebacterium, and Streptococcus were unchanged, while Moraxella increased with ETI. Conclusions Treatment with ETI leads to a reduction in Pseudomonas abundance within the sinonasal microbiome of individuals with Pseudomonas at baseline.