Understanding the composition and clinical importance of the fungal mycobiome was recently identified as a key topic in a “research priorities” consensus statement for bronchiectasis.Patients were recruited as part of the CAMEB study: an international multicentre cross-sectional Cohort of Asian and Matched European Bronchiectasis patients. The mycobiome was determined in 238 patients by targeted amplicon shotgun sequencing of the 18S–28S rRNA internally transcribed spacer regions ITS1 and ITS2. Specific quantitative PCR for detection of and conidial quantification for a range of airway Aspergillus species was performed. Sputum galactomannan, Aspergillus specific IgE, IgG and TARC (thymus and activation regulated chemokine) levels were measured systemically and associated to clinical outcomes.The bronchiectasis mycobiome is distinct and characterised by specific fungal genera, including Aspergillus, Cryptococcus and Clavispora. Aspergillus fumigatus (in Singapore/Kuala Lumpur) and Aspergillus terreus (in Dundee) dominated profiles, the latter associating with exacerbations. High frequencies of Aspergillus-associated disease including sensitisation and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis were detected. Each revealed distinct mycobiome profiles, and associated with more severe disease, poorer pulmonary function and increased exacerbations.The pulmonary mycobiome is of clinical relevance in bronchiectasis. Screening for Aspergillus-associated disease should be considered even in apparently stable patients.

No abstract

Microbiome, Airway Inflammation and Mortality in COPD n=253 n=96 n=135Background: The sputum microbiome has a potential role in disease phenotyping and risk stratification in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but few large longitudinal cohort studies exist. Objective: Our aim was to investigate the COPD sputum microbiome and its association with inflammatory phenotypes and mortality. Methods: 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing was performed on sputum from 253 clinically stable COPD patients (4-year median follow-up). Samples were classified as Proteobacteria or Firmicutes (phylum level) and Haemophilus or Streptococcus (genus level) dominant. Alpha diversity was measured by using Shannon-Wiener diversity and Berger-Parker dominance indices. Survival was modeled by using Cox proportional hazards regression. A subset of 78 patients had label-free liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry performed, with partial least square discriminant analysis integrating clinical, microbiome, and proteomics data. Results: Proteobacteria dominance and lower diversity was associated with more severe COPD according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease classification system (P 5 .0015), more frequent exacerbations (P 5 .0042), blood eosinophil level less than or equal to 100 cells/mL (P < .0001), and lower FEV 1 (P 5 .026). Blood eosinophil counts showed a positive relationship with percent of Firmicutes and Streptococcus and a negative association with percent Proteobacteria and Haemophilus. Proteobacteria dominance was associated with increased mortality compared with Firmicutes-dominated or balanced microbiome profiles (hazard ratio 5 2.58; 95% CI 5 1.43-4.66; P 5 .0017 and hazard From a the

No abstract

Rationale: Allergic sensitization is associated with poor clinical outcomes in asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cystic fibrosis; however, its presence, frequency, and clinical significance in non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis remain unclear.Objectives: To determine the frequency and geographic variability that exists in a sensitization pattern to common and specific allergens, including house dust mite and fungi, and to correlate such patterns to airway immune-inflammatory status and clinical outcomes in bronchiectasis.Methods: Patients with bronchiectasis were recruited in Asia (Singapore and Malaysia) and the United Kingdom (Scotland) (n = 238), forming the Cohort of Asian and Matched European Bronchiectasis, which matched recruited patients on age, sex, and bronchiectasis severity. Specific IgE response against a range of common allergens was determined, combined with airway immuneinflammatory status and correlated to clinical outcomes. Clinically relevant patient clusters, based on sensitization pattern and airway immune profiles ("immunoallertypes"), were determined. Measurements and Main Results:A high frequency of sensitization to multiple allergens was detected in bronchiectasis, exceeding that in a comparator cohort with allergic rhinitis (n = 149). Sensitization was associated with poor clinical outcomes, including decreased pulmonary function and more severe disease. "Sensitized bronchiectasis" was classified into two immunoallertypes: one fungal driven and proinflammatory, the other house dust mite driven and chemokine dominant, with the former demonstrating poorer clinical outcome.Conclusions: Allergic sensitization occurs at high frequency in patients with bronchiectasis recruited from different global centers. Improving endophenotyping of sensitized bronchiectasis, a clinically significant state, and a "treatable trait" permits therapeutic intervention in appropriate patients, and may allow improved stratification in future bronchiectasis research and clinical trials.

IntroductionThe COPD bacteriome associates with disease severity, exacerbations, and mortality. While COPD patients are susceptible to fungal sensitisation, the role of the fungal mycobiome remains uncertain.MethodsWe report the largest multicenter evaluation of the COPD airway mycobiome to date including participants from Asia (Singapore and Malaysia) and the United Kingdom (Scotland) when stable (n=337) and during exacerbations (n=66) as well as non-diseased controls (n=47). Longitudinal mycobiome analyses performed during and following COPD exacerbations (n=34) were examined in terms of exacerbation frequency, two-year mortality, and the occurrence of serum specific-IgE against selected fungi.ResultsA distinct mycobiome profile is observed in COPD compared to controls evidenced by increased alpha diversity (Shannon-index) (p<0.001). Significant airway mycobiome differences including greater inter-fungal interaction (by co-occurrence) characterise very frequent COPD exacerbators (≥3 exacerbations per year) (PERMANOVA, adjusted p<0.001). Longitudinal analyses during exacerbations and following treatment with antibiotics and corticosteroids did not reveal any significant change in airway mycobiome profile. Unsupervised clustering resulted in two clinically distinct COPD groups, (1) with increased symptoms (CAT score) and Saccharomyces dominance and (2) with very frequent exacerbations and higher mortality characterised by Aspergillus, Penicillium and Curvularia with a concomitant increase in serum specific IgE levels against the same fungi. During acute exacerbations of COPD, lower fungal diversity associates with higher two-year mortality.ConclusionThe airway mycobiome in COPD is characterised by specific fungal genera associated with exacerbations and increased mortality.

No abstract

IntroductionNeutrophil elastase activity in sputum can identify patients at high risk of airway infection and exacerbations in bronchiectasis. Application of this biomarker in clinical practice is limited, because no point-of-care test is available. We tested whether a novel semi-quantitative lateral flow device (neutrophil elastase airway test stick – NEATstik®) can stratify bronchiectasis patients according to severity, airway infection and exacerbation risk.MethodsSputum samples from 124 patients with stable bronchiectasis enrolled in the UK and Spain were tested using the NEATstik®, which scores neutrophil elastase concentration from 0 (<8 µg·mL−1 elastase activity) to 10 (maximum detectable neutrophil elastase activity). High neutrophil elastase activity was regarded as a NEATstik® grade >6. Severity of disease, airway infection from sputum culture and exacerbations over the 12 months were recorded. An independent validation was conducted in 50 patients from Milan, Italy.Measurements and main resultsPatients had a median age of 69 years and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) 69%. High neutrophil elastase activity was associated with worse bronchiectasis severity using the bronchiectasis severity index (p=0.0007) and FEV1 (p=0.02). A high NEATstik® grade was associated with a significant increase in exacerbation frequency, incident rate ratio 2.75 (95% CI 1.63–4.64, p<0.001). The median time to next exacerbation for patients with a NEATstik® grade >6 was 103 days compared to 278 days. The hazard ratio was 2.59 (95% CI 1.71–3.94, p<0.001). Results were confirmed in the independent validation cohort.ConclusionsA novel lateral flow device provides assessment of neutrophil elastase activity from sputum in minutes and identifies patients at increasing risk of airway infection and future exacerbations.