Spatial Variation in the Healthy Human Lung Microbiome and the Adapted Island Model of Lung Biogeography.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

The lung microbiome is spatially heterogeneous in advanced airway diseases, but whether it varies spatially in health is unknown. We postulated that the primary determinant of lung microbiome constitution in health is the balance of immigration and elimination of communities from the upper respiratory tract (URT; "adapted island model of lung biogeography"), rather than differences in regional bacterial growth conditions.

Objectives

To determine if the lung microbiome is spatially varied in healthy adults.

Methods

Bronchoscopy was performed on 15 healthy subjects. Specimens were sequentially collected in the lingula and right middle lobe (by bronchoalveolar lavage [BAL]), then in the right upper lobe, left upper lobe, and supraglottic space (by protected-spe

SUBMITTER: Dickson RP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4590020 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature