Airway microbiota and bronchial hyperresponsiveness in patients with suboptimally controlled asthma.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Improvement in lung function after macrolide antibiotic therapy has been attributed to reduction in bronchial infection by specific bacteria. However, the airway might be populated by a more diverse microbiota, and clinical features of asthma might be associated with characteristics of the airway microbiota present.

Objective

We sought to determine whether relationships exist between the composition of the airway bacterial microbiota and clinical features of asthma using culture-independent tools capable of detecting the presence and relative abundance of most known bacteria.

Methods

In this pilot study bronchial epithelial brushings were collected from 65 adults with suboptimally controlled asthma participating in a multicenter study of the effects of clar

SUBMITTER: Huang YJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3037020 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature