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Abstract
BackgroundThe microbiota of the respiratory tract has an important role in maintaining respiratory health. However, little is known on the respiratory microbiota in asthmatic patients among Middle Eastern populations. This study investigated the respiratory microbiota composition and functionality associated with asthma in Emirati subjects.MethodsWe performed 16S rRNA and ITS2-gene based microbial profiling of 40 expectorated sputum samples from adult and pediatric Emirati individuals averaging 52 and 7 years of age, respectively with or without asthma.ResultsWe report bacterial difference belonging to Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria and Proteobacteria phyla between asthmatic and non-asthmatic controls. Similarly, fungal difference belonging to Ascomycota, Basidiomycota phyla and other unclassified fungi. Differential abundance testing among asthmatic individuals with relation to Asthma Control Test show a significant depletion of Penicillium aethiopicum and Alternaria spp., among poorly controlled asthmatics. Moreover, data suggest a significant expansion of Malassezia spp. and other unclassified fungi in the airways of those receiving steroids and leukotriene receptor antagonists’ combination therapy, in contrast to those receiving steroids alone. Functional profiling from 16S data showed marked differences between pediatric asthmatic and non-asthmatic controls, with pediatric asthmatic patients showing an increase in amino acid (p-value < 5.03 × 10− 7), carbohydrate (p-value < 4.76 × 10− 7), and fatty acid degradation (p-value < 6.65 × 10− 7) pathways, whereas non-asthmatic controls are associated with increase in amino acid (p-value < 8.34 × 10− 7), carbohydrate (p-value < 3.65 × 10− 7), and fatty acid (p-value < 2.18 × 10− 6) biosynthesis pathways in concordance with enterotype composition.ConclusionsThese differences provide an insight into respiratory microbiota composition in Emirati population and its possible role in the development of asthma early in life. This study provides important information that may eventually lead to the development of screening biomarkers to predict early asthma development and novel therapeutic approaches.
Highlights
The microbiota of the respiratory tract has an important role in maintaining respiratory health
Specialized microbial communities composed of bacteria, viruses and fungi termed as “respiratory microbiota” inhabit the human respiratory tract spanning from nostrils to the alveoli
We evaluated the taxonomic composition generated from these high-quality reads and classified them using Greengenes (v. 13_8) as the reference database for bacteria, and UNITE (v. 7.1) as the reference database for fungi
Summary
The microbiota of the respiratory tract has an important role in maintaining respiratory health. The respiratory microbiota is crucial for the maintenance of respiratory physiology and homeostasis [3] It plays a significant role in the maturation and maintenance of respiratory immune responses and provides resistance to respiratory pathogen colonization [4]. The composition of the respiratory microbiota is increasingly being characterized in humans. The lower respiratory tract is dominantly colonized by bacteria including Haemophilus spp., Moraxella spp., Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, and fungal families such as Eremothecium, Systenostrema and Malassezia [13,14,15]. Characterization of the microbial communities residing in spatial niches along the respiratory tract is essential to elucidate the complex roles played by the respiratory microbiota in the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases
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