Airway microbiota in severe asthma and relationship to asthma severity and phenotypes

Qingling Zhang; Michael Cox; Zhike Liang; Folke Brinkmann; Paul Andres Cardenas; Rachael M Duff; Pankaj Bhavsar; William Cookson; Miriam F Moffatt; Kian Fan Chung

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0152724

Airway microbiota in severe asthma and relationship to asthma severity and phenotypes

Qingling Zhang, Michael Cox, Zhike Liang, Folke Brinkmann, Paul Andres Cardenas, Rachael M Duff, Pankaj Bhavsar, William Cookson, Miriam F Moffatt, Kian Fan Chung

Microbiology and Infection

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Abstract

Background
The lower airways harbor a community of bacterial species which is altered in asthma.

Objectives
We examined whether the lower airway microbiota were related to measures of asthma severity.

Methods
We prospectively recruited 26 severe asthma, 18 non-severe asthma and 12 healthy subjects. DNA was extracted from induced sputum and PCR amplification of the V3-V5 region of bacterial 16S rRNA gene was performed.

Results
We obtained 138,218 high quality sequences which were rarefied at 133 sequences/sample. Twenty OTUs had sequences ≥1% of total. There were marked differences in the distribution of Phyla between groups (P = 2.8x10-118). Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria were reduced in non-severe and severe asthmatic groups. Proteobacteria were more common in non-severe asthmatics compared to controls (OR = 2.26; 95% CI = 1.94–2.64) and Firmicutes were increased in severe asthmatics compared to controls (OR = 2.15; 95%CI = 1.89–2.45). Streptococcal OTUs amongst the Firmicutes were associated with recent onset asthma, rhinosinusitis and sputum eosinophilia.

Conclusions
Sputum microbiota in severe asthma differs from healthy controls and non-severe asthmatics, and is characterized by the presence of Streptococcus spp with eosinophilia. Whether these organisms are causative for the pathophysiology of asthma remains to be determined.

Original language	English
Article number	e0152724
Pages (from-to)	1-16
Number of pages	16
Journal	PLoS ONE
Volume	11
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152724
Publication status	Published - 14 Apr 2016

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@article{7846891729b94c2789d0aa587f9a57b8,

title = "Airway microbiota in severe asthma and relationship to asthma severity and phenotypes",

abstract = "BackgroundThe lower airways harbor a community of bacterial species which is altered in asthma.ObjectivesWe examined whether the lower airway microbiota were related to measures of asthma severity.MethodsWe prospectively recruited 26 severe asthma, 18 non-severe asthma and 12 healthy subjects. DNA was extracted from induced sputum and PCR amplification of the V3-V5 region of bacterial 16S rRNA gene was performed.ResultsWe obtained 138,218 high quality sequences which were rarefied at 133 sequences/sample. Twenty OTUs had sequences ≥1% of total. There were marked differences in the distribution of Phyla between groups (P = 2.8x10-118). Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria were reduced in non-severe and severe asthmatic groups. Proteobacteria were more common in non-severe asthmatics compared to controls (OR = 2.26; 95% CI = 1.94–2.64) and Firmicutes were increased in severe asthmatics compared to controls (OR = 2.15; 95%CI = 1.89–2.45). Streptococcal OTUs amongst the Firmicutes were associated with recent onset asthma, rhinosinusitis and sputum eosinophilia.ConclusionsSputum microbiota in severe asthma differs from healthy controls and non-severe asthmatics, and is characterized by the presence of Streptococcus spp with eosinophilia. Whether these organisms are causative for the pathophysiology of asthma remains to be determined.",

author = "Qingling Zhang and Michael Cox and Zhike Liang and Folke Brinkmann and Cardenas, {Paul Andres} and Duff, {Rachael M} and Pankaj Bhavsar and William Cookson and Moffatt, {Miriam F} and Chung, {Kian Fan}",

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T1 - Airway microbiota in severe asthma and relationship to asthma severity and phenotypes

AU - Zhang, Qingling

AU - Cox, Michael

AU - Liang, Zhike

AU - Brinkmann, Folke

AU - Cardenas, Paul Andres

AU - Duff, Rachael M

AU - Bhavsar, Pankaj

AU - Cookson, William

AU - Moffatt, Miriam F

AU - Chung, Kian Fan

PY - 2016/4/14

Y1 - 2016/4/14

N2 - BackgroundThe lower airways harbor a community of bacterial species which is altered in asthma.ObjectivesWe examined whether the lower airway microbiota were related to measures of asthma severity.MethodsWe prospectively recruited 26 severe asthma, 18 non-severe asthma and 12 healthy subjects. DNA was extracted from induced sputum and PCR amplification of the V3-V5 region of bacterial 16S rRNA gene was performed.ResultsWe obtained 138,218 high quality sequences which were rarefied at 133 sequences/sample. Twenty OTUs had sequences ≥1% of total. There were marked differences in the distribution of Phyla between groups (P = 2.8x10-118). Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria were reduced in non-severe and severe asthmatic groups. Proteobacteria were more common in non-severe asthmatics compared to controls (OR = 2.26; 95% CI = 1.94–2.64) and Firmicutes were increased in severe asthmatics compared to controls (OR = 2.15; 95%CI = 1.89–2.45). Streptococcal OTUs amongst the Firmicutes were associated with recent onset asthma, rhinosinusitis and sputum eosinophilia.ConclusionsSputum microbiota in severe asthma differs from healthy controls and non-severe asthmatics, and is characterized by the presence of Streptococcus spp with eosinophilia. Whether these organisms are causative for the pathophysiology of asthma remains to be determined.

AB - BackgroundThe lower airways harbor a community of bacterial species which is altered in asthma.ObjectivesWe examined whether the lower airway microbiota were related to measures of asthma severity.MethodsWe prospectively recruited 26 severe asthma, 18 non-severe asthma and 12 healthy subjects. DNA was extracted from induced sputum and PCR amplification of the V3-V5 region of bacterial 16S rRNA gene was performed.ResultsWe obtained 138,218 high quality sequences which were rarefied at 133 sequences/sample. Twenty OTUs had sequences ≥1% of total. There were marked differences in the distribution of Phyla between groups (P = 2.8x10-118). Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria were reduced in non-severe and severe asthmatic groups. Proteobacteria were more common in non-severe asthmatics compared to controls (OR = 2.26; 95% CI = 1.94–2.64) and Firmicutes were increased in severe asthmatics compared to controls (OR = 2.15; 95%CI = 1.89–2.45). Streptococcal OTUs amongst the Firmicutes were associated with recent onset asthma, rhinosinusitis and sputum eosinophilia.ConclusionsSputum microbiota in severe asthma differs from healthy controls and non-severe asthmatics, and is characterized by the presence of Streptococcus spp with eosinophilia. Whether these organisms are causative for the pathophysiology of asthma remains to be determined.

UR - http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/27078029

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Airway microbiota in severe asthma and relationship to asthma severity and phenotypes

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