<p> INTRODUCTION: Although recent studies have found that the lower respiratory tract microbiome was different in asthmatics compared to non-asthmatics in adults, the microbiome of asthmatic people with and without asthma exacerbation has not been well investigated. </p><p> OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of the study was to compare the abundance and diversity of the respiratory tract microbiome in children with and without asthma exacerbation. </p><p> METHODS: This was a cross sectional study where asthmatic children from 5-18 years old were recruited at the emergency department at LeBonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN. Recruited children were further grouped by asthma exacerbation level and asthma severity level. Induced sputum samples and nasopharyngeal swabs were collected to analyze the microbiome in the two sources with Illumina based sequencing. The primary outcome to measure was the microbiome abundance and diversity of specific taxa in the two sites with or without current asthma exacerbation. The secondary outcome to measure was the microbiome abundance and diversity of specific taxa in the two sites with various levels of asthma severity. The additional outcome to measure was the specific microbial taxa in the two sites associated with an increased or decreased risk of asthma exacerbation or severity. </p><p> RESULTS: 51 children from 5-10 years old were recruited. The relative abundance of 9 taxa (e.g. Moraxella) were significantly higher in nasopharyngeal samples, and the relative abundance of 26 taxa (e.g. Streptococcus) were significantly higher in induced sputum samples. No significant difference in abundance and diversity was found with various asthma exacerbation and severity levels in either of the two sites. No specific taxon was significantly associated with an increased or a decreased risk of asthma exacerbation or severity. </p><p> CONCLUSION: Microbiome composition differed significantly in induced sputum samples compared to nasopharyngeal samples. No significant change of microbial abundance and diversity in the two sites was associated with asthma exacerbation or severity. No specific taxon in the two sites was associated with an increased or a decreased risk of asthma exacerbation or severity. Larger, comparative studies need to be performed to discover subtle difference in future.</p><p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10276632 |
| Date | 19 April 2018 |
| Creators | Fu, Mingzhou |
| Publisher | Yale University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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