The sputum microbiome is distinct between COPD and health, independent of smoking history

Abstract

Background: Airway bacterial dysbiosis is a feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, there is limited comparative data of the lung microbiome between healthy smokers, non-smokers and COPD. Methods: We compared the 16S rRNA gene-based sputum microbiome generated from pair-ended Illumina sequencing of 124 healthy subjects (28 smokers and 96 non-smokers with normal lung function), with single stable samples from 218 COPD subjects collected from three UK clinical centres as part of the COPDMAP consortium. Results: In healthy subjects Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria were the major phyla constituting 88% of the total reads, and Streptococcus, Veillonella, Prevotella, Actinomyces and Rothia were the dominant genera. Haemophilus formed only 3% of the healthy microbiome. In contrast, Proteobacteria was the most dominant phylum accounting for 50% of the microbiome in COPD subjects, with Haemophilus and Moraxella at genus level contributing 25 and 3% respectively. There were no differences in the microbiome profile within healthy and COPD subgroups when stratified based on smoking history. Principal coordinate analysis on operational taxonomic units showed two distinct clusters, representative of healthy and COPD subjects (PERMANOVA, p = 0•001). Conclusion: The healthy and COPD sputum microbiomes are distinct and independent of smoking history. Our results underline the important role for Gammaproteobacteria in COPD.

Compare the Effect of Inhaled Corticosteroids and Systemic Corticosteroids on Sputum Microbiome of AECOPD

“…The abundance of Moraxella is considered to have a significant positive correlation with the percentage of sputum neutrophils (1). High proportions of Prevotella, Veillonella, and Actinomyces species have been observed in COPD and healthy people, but the difference is not significant (3,32); our research is consistent with this finding. The occurrence of COPD exacerbation events may be related to the reduction in microbiome diversity and increased proportion of Proteobacteria (33,34).…”

“…Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common respiratory disease that is characterized by persistent symptoms and impaired lung function due to small airway obliteration and alveolar destruction and is related to a chronic inflammatory response in the lungs (1,2). The exacerbation of airway inflammation and disease progression during acute exacerbation of COPD have been demonstrated to be related to changes in the lung microbiology (3). The effects of acute exacerbation of COPD on airway microbiology mainly consist of the imbalance of airway microbiology and changes in microecological diversity (1,3,4).…”

“…The exacerbation of airway inflammation and disease progression during acute exacerbation of COPD have been demonstrated to be related to changes in the lung microbiology (3). The effects of acute exacerbation of COPD on airway microbiology mainly consist of the imbalance of airway microbiology and changes in microecological diversity (1,3,4).…”

Bacteria and sputum inflammatory cell counts; a COPD cohort analysis

“…It has been reported that higher ICS doses are significantly associated with greater total airway bacterial load [ 4 , 7 ], but we did not see a difference in ICS use between groups, perhaps due to the high overall ICS use. Some patients were current smokers (34%); a previous analysis of the COPDMAP data reports no difference in microbiome between smoking and non-smoking individuals [ 42 ]. We were unable to determine if any changes in colonisation status were affected by antibiotics or prior vaccination.…”

Microbiota: A Missing Link in The Pathogenesis of Chronic Lung Inflammatory Diseases

“…being more common than Bacteroides ( Prevotella spp.) being significantly reduced ( Einarsson et al 2016 ; Haldar et al 2020 ). In addition, in stable COPD, a higher level of colonization with potentially pathogenic bacteria, such as H. influenzae, S. pneumonia , and M. catarrhalis is associated with a greater chance of exacerbation and a more severe airflow obstruction ( Martinez et al 2013 ; Ditz et al 2020 ).…”