Bacterial Topography of the Healthy Human Lower Respiratory Tract.

ABSTRACT: Although culture-independent techniques have refuted lung sterility in health, controversy about contamination during bronchoscope passage through the upper respiratory tract (URT) has impeded research progress. We sought to establish whether bronchoscopic sampling accurately reflects the lung microbiome in health and to distinguish between two proposed routes of authentic microbial immigration, (i) dispersion along contiguous respiratory mucosa and (ii) subclinical microaspiration. During bronchoscopy of eight adult volunteers without lung disease, we performed seven protected specimen brushings (PSB) and bilateral bronchoalveolar lavages (BALs) per subject. We amplified, sequenced, and analyzed the bacterial 16S rRNA gene V4 regions by using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Rigorous attentio

SUBMITTER: Dickson RP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5312084 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature