The pulmonary mycobiome-A study of subjects with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

PLoS One. 2021 Apr 7;16(4):e0248967. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248967. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Background: The fungal part of the pulmonary microbiome (mycobiome) is understudied. We report the composition of the oral and pulmonary mycobiome in participants with COPD compared to controls in a large-scale single-centre bronchoscopy study (MicroCOPD).

Methods: Oral wash and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was collected from 93 participants with COPD and 100 controls. Fungal DNA was extracted before sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region of the fungal ribosomal RNA gene cluster. Taxonomic barplots were generated, and we compared taxonomic composition, Shannon index, and beta diversity between study groups, and by use of inhaled steroids.

Results: The oral and pulmonary mycobiomes from controls and participants with COPD were dominated by Candida, and there were more Candida in oral samples compared to BAL for both study groups. Malassezia and Sarocladium were also frequently found in pulmonary samples. No consistent differences were found between study groups in terms of differential abundance/distribution. Alpha and beta diversity did not differ between study groups in pulmonary samples, but beta diversity varied with sample type. The mycobiomes did not seem to be affected by use of inhaled steroids.

Conclusion: Oral and pulmonary samples differed in taxonomic composition and diversity, possibly indicating the existence of a pulmonary mycobiome.

Publication types

  • Observational Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Case-Control Studies
  • DNA, Fungal / isolation & purification
  • Female
  • Fungi* / classification
  • Fungi* / drug effects
  • Fungi* / isolation & purification
  • Humans
  • Lung / microbiology*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mouth / microbiology*
  • Mycobiome / drug effects*
  • Norway / epidemiology
  • Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / drug therapy
  • Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / epidemiology
  • Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / microbiology*

Substances

  • DNA, Fungal

Associated data

  • Dryad/10.5061/dryad.w3r2280nz

Grants and funding

The MicroCOPD study was funded by unrestricted grants and fellowships from Helse Vest, GlaxoSmithKline, Bergen Medical Research Foundation, and the Endowment of Timber Merchant A. Delphin and Wife through the Norwegian Medical Association. The MicroCOPD funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Sequentia Biotech SL provided support in the form of salaries for authors Walter Sanseverino and Andreu Paytuví-Gallart, but not study design or data collection. All funding of data collection and laboratory analyses were from the MicroCOPD Study. Walter Sanseverino and Andreu Paytuví-Gallart both contributed to interpretation of results, and preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of all authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.