The airway microbiota and exacerbations of COPD

Abstract

AimThe aim of this study was to investigate whether the compositionality of the lower airway microbiota predicts later exacerbation risk in persons with COPD in a cohort study.Materials and methodsWe collected lower airways microbiota samples by bronchoalveolar lavage and protected specimen brushes, and oral wash samples from 122 participants with COPD. Bacterial DNA was extracted from all samples, before we sequenced the V3-V4 region of the 16S RNA gene. The frequency of moderate and severe COPD exacerbations was surveyed in telephone interviews and in a follow-up visit. Compositional taxonomy and α and β diversity were compared between participants with and without later exacerbations.ResultsThe four most abundant phyla were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Fusobacteria in both groups, and the four most abundant genera were Streptococcus, Veillonella, Prevotella and Gemella. The relative abundances of different taxa showed a large variation between samples and individuals, and no statistically significant difference of either compositional taxonomy, or α or β diversity could be found between participants with and without COPD exacerbations within follow-up.ConclusionThe findings from the current study indicate that individual differences in the lower airway microbiota in persons with COPD far outweigh group differences between frequent and nonfrequent COPD exacerbators, and that the compositionality of the microbiota is so complex as to present large challenges for use as a biomarker of later exacerbations.

The lower airways microbiome and antimicrobial peptides in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis differ from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

“…In our study, the most abundant phyla ( Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes ) were shared by IPF and COPD patients, while Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria were the third most abundant phyla in the respective study groups. This is coherent with other studies [ 6 , 31 – 34 ]. The most abundant genera in our study were Streptococcus , Rothia , Veillonella and Prevotella , which are described earlier for IPF patients, but also in other chronic pulmonary diseases [ 29 , 35 ].…”

Impact of Probiotic Bacteria on Respiratory Allergy Disorders

“…The altered microbiota has an impact on respiratory diseases as well. Many studies indicated that patients with allergy, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have disturbed the microbiome composition, which can accelerate the further pathological processes ( Choi et al, 2014 ; Huang, 2015 ; Depner et al, 2017 ; Leiten et al, 2020 ). Asthmatic patients differ in the microbiota composition as well, and it seems to be linked with the phenotype of the disease.…”

The lower airways microbiota and antimicrobial peptides indicate dysbiosis in sarcoidosis

“…Participants were recruited from our outpatient clinic at the Department of Thoracic Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Norway, participating in The Microbiome in Interstitial Lung Disease study (MicroILD) [16] and The Bergen Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Microbiome study (MicroCOPD) [17]. All study participants were examined in one center with consistent methodology by the same investigators.…”