Relationship between the respiratory microbiome and the severity of airflow limitation, history of exacerbations and circulating eosinophils in COPD patients.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The respiratory microbiome is altered in COPD patients but its relationship with core components of the disease, such as the severity of airflow limitation, the frequency of exacerbations or the circulating levels of eosinophils, is unclear.

Methods

Cross-sectional study comprising 72 clinically stable COPD patients (mean age 68 [SD 7.9] years; FEV1 48.7 [SD 20.1]% of reference) who provided spontaneous sputum samples for 16S rRNA gene amplification and sequencing. The microbiome composition was analysed with QIIME.

Results

We observed that: (1) more severe airflow limitation was associated with reduced relative abundance (RA) of Treponema and an increase in Pseudomonas; (2) patients with ≥2 exacerbations the previous year showed a significantly different b

SUBMITTER: Millares L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6591812 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature