The Microbiome and the Lung

Overview

Journal Ann Am Thorac Soc

Specialty Pulmonary Medicine

Date 2014 Aug 23

PMID 25148429

Citations 48

Authors

Lijia Cui

Alison Morris

Laurence Huang

James M Beck

Homer L Twigg 3rd

Erika von Mutius

Elodie Ghedin

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Investigation of the human microbiome has become an important field of research facilitated by advances in sequencing technologies. The lung, which is one of the latest body sites being explored for the characterization of human-associated microbial communities, has a microbiome that is suspected to play a substantial role in health and disease. In this review, we provide an overview of the basics of microbiome studies. Challenges in the study of the lung microbiome are highlighted, and further attention is called to the optimization and standardization of methodologies to explore the role of the lung microbiome in health and disease. We also provide examples of lung microbial communities associated with disease or infection status and discuss the role of fungal species in the lung. Finally, we review studies demonstrating that the environmental microbiome can influence lung health and disease, such as the finding that the diversity of microbial exposure correlates inversely with the development of childhood asthma.

Citing Articles

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Sputum microbiota and inflammatory subtypes in asthma, COPD, and its overlap.

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