A survey of fungal microbiota in airways of healthy volunteer subjects from Puglia (Apulia), Italy

Abstract

BackgroundThe human respiratory tract represents the major portal of entry for numerous microorganisms, primarily those occurring as airborne particles such as viral and bacterial entities, or fungal spores. Microorganism characteristics coupled with the local host immune response will determine whether they will be cleared or adhere and colonize the airways leading to acute or chronic pulmonary disease. Like bacteria, fungi can cause severe lung diseases, but their infection rates are much lower. The lung microbiota is commonly sampled using relatively invasive bronchoscopic procedures. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) collection offers a potentially less invasive alternative for lung microbiota sampling. This study tries to determine the composition of fungal communities in a cohort of healthy adult volunteer subjects from Puglia (Apulia), Italy.MethodsFungi diversity in 27 EBC samples collected from Italian adult volunteers was investigated using conventional microbiological culturing and DNA sequencing approach.ResultsTen tested subjects (37,03%) turned out to present fungi in the EBC. We observed complex fungal communities, in which more than 10% of the isolated species are represented by Aspergillus sydowii (14,8%) and Cladosporium spp (11,11%). Three subjects that showed fungal presence in EBC have been diagnosed with a respiratory disease.ConclusionsWe present a survey of an important scientific field in its early stages that is fungal contamination of airways of healthy subjects in a small geographic area. Furthermore, we interpreted our results to highlight the potential role of fungi in the context of respiratory diseases.

Insights into the Profile of the Human Expiratory Microbiota and Its Associations with Indoor Microbiotas

“…The dominant fungal genera recovered in this study were completely distinct from those reported in another study, which documented the dominance of Aspergillus sydowii and Cladosporium spp . 36 This distinction is likely due to the differences caused by culture-dependent and culture-independent sequencing methods. 72 In addition, some common fungi in the sputum and oral cavity, including Candida , Aspergillus , and Saccharomyces , were less frequent in the EBC.…”

“… 100 , 101 Based on this, it is probable that floor dust fungi were partly from the human exhaled breath, and there is a potential relationship between exhaled fungi and asthma severity. 36 …”

“…were detected in EBC samples with the combination of traditional culture and DNA sequencing approaches. 36 Despite these known specific exhaled pathogens, knowledge on the microbial community diversity in the expiratory particles is still limited.…”

Fungal Mikrobiyom; Mikobiyom?

“…Bu hastalarda Asperg llus (özell kle A. fum gatus), C. alb cans, C. paraps los s ve Malassez a türler zole ed lm şt r 44. Astım ve KF' de Asperg llus tarafından ndüklenen alerj k yanıt "allerj k bronkopulmoner hastalık" şekl nde tanımlanmaktadır.Carpagnano ve ark 45. 43 akc ğer kanser hasta ve 21 sağlıklı b reylerde ekshalasyon le ver len havada ve bronş yal fırça örnekler nde fung varlığını araştırmışlardır.…”

Editorial: the airborne microbiome - implications for aerosol transmission and infection control – special issue

“…Although the title of the Special Issue is ‘Airborne Microbiome’ the manuscripts received have highlighted a variety of peripheral, yet related aspects of this. The contributions are a mixture of primary research, reviews and commentaries, including: new methods to explore environmental niches where such microbes may grow [1], their detection and characterisation in the human host [2–4], which pathogens are present in the respiratory tract and can be exhaled in human breath to potentially spread via the airborne route [5, 6], and some strategies for their control [7]. Finally, a historical-to-current overview explores human-microbial interactions, including problems with sampling and detection methods, drug resistance, the role of super-spreaders and issues around research funding [8].…”