Short-term particulate matter exposure influences nasal microbiota in a population of healthy subjects

Nasal Microbiota Modifies the Effects of Particulate Air Pollution on Plasma Extracellular Vesicles

“…In one study, we showed that exposure to PM can affect the microbiota community [24]. These changes lead to modifications of the indigenous bacterial community, perturbing the structure and the relationships existing between the different species of the microbiota and potentially modifying the equilibrium between the bacteria community and the host, which often leads to unhealthy conditions [30,31].…”

“…NMB analysis, starting from DNA extraction and amplification from the collected nasal swabs, was carried out through a metabarcoding approach targeting the 16S rRNA V3-V4 hyper-variable regions using the Illumina Miseq sequencing platform, and both upstream and downstream analyses performed on sequencing output were achieved using the default setting suggested in the QIIME 1.9.1 pipeline [24,29]. To confirm the taxonomical composition difference between the two, analyzed group principal coordinate analyses (PCoA) were performed, applying the weighted UniFrac normalized distance metric using QIIME 1.9.1 software.…”

“…However, the continuous exposure of the NMB to large amounts of airborne particles, including PM, can alter the bacterial community composition towards an unstable one that might not be able to resist pathogen overgrowth and to maintain the physiological cross-talk existing with the host, resulting in an alteration of the immune state.According to these above-mentioned considerations, we recently reported that PM10 and PM2.5 levels of the 3rd day preceding sampling (Day 3) were inversely associated with the majority of analyzed bacterial taxa, except for the Moraxella genus. Moreover, two clearly different taxonomical profiles were recognized within the analyzed population, identifying two groups: one characterized by an even community and another widely dominated by the Moraxella genus [24]. Therefore, according to the relative abundance of the Moraxella genus, we stratified the enrolled subjects into the Mor− and Mor+ groups (the Moraxella genus's cut-off was ≤25% and >25%, respectively), which were characterized by a heterogeneous and an unbalanced NMB, respectively.The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possible role of NMB in determining plasmatic EV secretion level differences in response to short-term PM exposure levels in a stratified healthy population characterized by two distinct NMB profiles.…”

“…According to these above-mentioned considerations, we recently reported that PM10 and PM2.5 levels of the 3rd day preceding sampling (Day 3) were inversely associated with the majority of analyzed bacterial taxa, except for the Moraxella genus. Moreover, two clearly different taxonomical profiles were recognized within the analyzed population, identifying two groups: one characterized by an even community and another widely dominated by the Moraxella genus [24]. Therefore, according to the relative abundance of the Moraxella genus, we stratified the enrolled subjects into the Mor− and Mor+ groups (the Moraxella genus's cut-off was ≤25% and >25%, respectively), which were characterized by a heterogeneous and an unbalanced NMB, respectively.…”

Emerging concepts and challenges in implementing the exposome paradigm in allergic diseases and asthma: a Practall document

“…As the BDT data protocols and procedures evolve, there will be a number of ways to expand access to environmental and other novel data sets with those outlined above to allow for queries focused on the impact of exposome elements on allergic and immunological diseases. For example, there are emerging data that demonstrate that exposure to ambient air pollutants modifies the gut microbiome . While the microbiome is beyond the scope of this review (and the focus of the previous PRACTALL), it is noteworthy that there are emerging data to suggest that ambient environmental particulate matter impacts airway and gut microbiome, as well as microbiome influences on pollen biology.…”