Comparing the nasal bacterial microbiome diversity of allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis and control subjects

Abstract

Purpose Until now, the microbiome of the nasal cavity and its contribution to nasal mucosal disease has remained poorly understood. The advent of cultivation-free molecular methods makes it possible to characterize the total microbiome of the nasal cavity. We sought to assess the microbial diversity and composition of the middle meatus in allergic rhinitis (AR) patients, chronic rhinosinusitis patients without polyps (CRSsNP) and a control population to determine the microbiota associated with the pathogenesis of AR and CRSsNP. Methods Microbial characterization was determined using 16S rRNA gene sequencing of 122 nasal swabs collected from patients with AR (n = 52) and CRSsNP (n = 37), and from healthy controls (n = 33). Results There was no difference in nasal microbiome richness and diversity among the three groups, and the dominant phyla were similar among three groups including Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes. However, Spirochaetae abundance was significantly higher in AR than in the control group after FDR correction (FDR p = 0.021). At the genus level, although there was no statistical significance after FDR correction, there was a trend that Pseudomonas and Peptostreptococcaceae abundance were higher in AR than in controls (p = 0.005, p = 0.005) and CRSsNP (p = 0.023, p = 0.034); Lactobacillus abundance was lower in AR than in controls (p = 0.021); Moraxella abundance was lower in CRSsNP than in controls (p = 0.006); Haemophilus abundance was higher in CRSsNP than in AR (p = 0.003) but lower in AR than in controls (p = 0.018). Conclusion These results suggested that microbial dysbiosis may play a role in the pathogenesis of heterogeneous nasal mucosal inflammation.

Lactic acid bacteria as probiotics for the nose?

“…In our recent microbiome comparison study between healthy controls and CRS patients, various genera of the Lactobacillaceae including Lactiplantibacillus, Latilactobacillus and Lacticaseibacillus were also found to be more prevalent and abundant in healthy controls compared with CRS patients (De Boeck et al, 2019) (Figure 1). Similarly, a lower abundance of lactobacilli was recently reported within the nasal microbiome of AR patients compared with healthy controls (Gan et al, 2020). Compared with other human body sites, such as the vagina (Petrova et al, 2015) and the gastrointestinal tract (Heeney et al, 2018), the abundances of lactobacilli in the URT (Abreu et al, 2012;Ling et al, 2013;Stearns et al, 2015;, are much lower (Figure 1).…”

“…Mean relative abundances of Dolosigranulum (red bars) and Lactobacillaceae (blue bars) as part of the microbiome in different human body habitats. Based on our research (De and available literature(Laufer et al, 2011; Biesbroek et al, 2014a;Stearns et al, 2015;Hasegawa et al, 2017;Gan et al, 2020), Dolosigranulum and Lactobacillus are proposed as indicator taxa for health. Using the curatedMetagenomicData R-package based on publicly available shotgun sequencing data data(Pasolli et al, 2017), their mean relative abundances were calculated in the URT, skin, gut and vagina.…”

Differences and similarities between the upper and lower airway: focusing on innate immunity

“…Similarly, the diversity of nasal microbiota decreases in other pathogenic conditions, such as chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) with or without nasal polyp (19,20) . However, one study found no difference in microbiome diversity among control, allergic rhinitis, and CRS without nasal polyp patients (21) . Instead, allergic rhinitis patients had a higher abundance of Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes and a lower abundance of Lactobacillus than control group individuals (21) .…”

“…However, one study found no difference in microbiome diversity among control, allergic rhinitis, and CRS without nasal polyp patients (21) . Instead, allergic rhinitis patients had a higher abundance of Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes and a lower abundance of Lactobacillus than control group individuals (21) . Haemophilus was more abundant in the CRS patients than in the controls or allergic rhinitis patients (21) .…”

The Respiratory Commensal Bacterium Dolosigranulum pigrum 040417 Improves the Innate Immune Response to Streptococcus pneumoniae

“…Among the URT commensal bacterial species that have gained interest as potential next-generation probiotics, Dolosigranulum pigrum is one of the most promising to beneficially influence human respiratory health. It was observed that this Gram-positive, catalase-negative Firmicute bacterium is abundant in healthy URT, reaching a relative abundance of up to 50% [ 15 ], and different studies have related it to vaginal delivery and breastfeeding [ 16 ]. A lower incidence of URT infections and a reduced probability of contracting bronchiolitis were observed in children who had higher numbers of D. pigrum in their respiratory microbiota [ 17 ].…”