Enrichment of the lung microbiome with gut bacteria in sepsis and the acute respiratory distress syndrome.

ABSTRACT: Sepsis and the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are major causes of mortality without targeted therapies. Although many experimental and clinical observations have implicated gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of these diseases, culture-based studies have failed to demonstrate translocation of bacteria to the lungs in critically ill patients. Here, we report culture-independent evidence that the lung microbiome is enriched with gut bacteria both in a murine model of sepsis and in humans with established ARDS. Following experimental sepsis, lung communities were dominated by viable gut-associated bacteria. Ecological analysis identified the lower gastrointestinal tract, rather than the upper respiratory tract, as the likely source community of post-sepsis lung bacteria. In broncho

SUBMITTER: Dickson RP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5076472 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature