International Journal of COPD (Jun 2023)

Seasonal Dynamics of the Upper Respiratory Tract Microbiome in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

  • Cai S,
  • Gao J,
  • Liu X,
  • Yang J,
  • Feng D,
  • Li G,
  • Li S,
  • Yang H,
  • Wang Z,
  • Yi X,
  • Zhou Y

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 18
pp. 1267 – 1276

Abstract

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Shuping Cai,1,2,* Jingyuan Gao,3,* Xiaomin Liu,3,* Junhao Yang,3,* Dingyun Feng,1 Guijun Li,2 Sijia Li,1 Hailing Yang,1 Zhang Wang,3 Xinzhu Yi,3 Yuqi Zhou1 1Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Institute of Respiratory Diseases, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guang Dong, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, the Seventh Affiliated Hospital of SUN YAT-SEN University, Shenzhen, Guang Dong, People’s Republic of China; 3Institute of Ecological Sciences, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guang Dong, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Xinzhu Yi; Yuqi Zhou, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Increasing evidence suggests that seasonal changes can trigger the alternation of airway microbiome. However, the dynamics of the upper airway bacterial ecology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients across different seasons remains unclear.Methods: In this study, we present a 16S ribosomal RNA survey of the airway microbiome on 72 swab samples collected in different months (March, May, July, September, and November) in 2019 from 18 COPD patients and from six resampled patients in November in 2020.Results: Our study uncovered a dynamic airway microbiota where changes appeared to be associated with seasonal alternation in COPD patients. Twelve clusters of temporal patterns were displayed by differential and clustering analysis along the time course, systematically revealing distinct microbial taxa that prefer to grow in cool and warm seasons, respectively. Moreover, the upper airway microbiome composition was relatively stable in the same season in different years.Discussion: Given the tight association between airway microbiome and COPD disease progression, this study can provide useful information for clinically understanding the seasonal trend of disease phenotypes in COPD patients.Graphical Abstract: Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, upper airway microbiome, seasonal variation

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