Indoor plants regulate the respiratory bacteria of high-altitude migrants and improve their environmental adaptability

Abstract

Migrants traveling from plains to Ngari Prefecture, Tibet, China, with an average altitude of over 4500 m, may suffer serious respiratory function deterioration. Regulating the respiratory microbiome by altering residence indoor air microbiome is a potential approach to improve their respiratory health. To investigate the impact of indoor plants on the respiratory bacteria of high-altitude migrants and its effects on respiratory system health, based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing of 56 respiratory samples and 56 indoor air samples from the participants in Ngari, this study analyzed the effects of indoor plants on the respiratory bacteria of Ngari migrants, compared the effects of indoor plants on migrants and local Tibetans, and analyzed the association between plant-related respiratory bacteria changes and health protection. Migrants with different numbers of indoor plants exhibited significant difference in respiratory bacteria β diversity. Compared to migrants with fewer plants, migrants with more plants had an approximately 23% lower cumulative relative abundance of pathogenic genera in their respiratory dominant genera, and had 10 unique indoor air-respiratory shared core OTUs, some of which belong to plant-related genera. Migrants with different numbers of indoor plants showed greater differences in respiratory bacteria diversity and specific taxa compared to local Tibetans. Migrants with more indoor plants possessed individual unique indoor air-respiratory shared core OTUs that were significantly positively correlated with inspiratory reserve volume or expiratory reserve volume. Overall, indoor plants alter the diversity and composition of migrants' respiratory bacteria, and the changes in composition positively impact on respiratory health and high-altitude adaptability.