Characteristics of the Airway Microbiome of Cystic Fibrosis Patients^#

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O. L. Voronina^1,a*, N. N. Ryzhova¹, M. S. Kunda¹, E. V. Loseva¹, E. I. Aksenova¹, E. L. Amelina², G. L. Shumkova², O. I. Simonova³, and A. L. Gintsburg¹

¹Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, Ministry of Health of Russia, 123098 Moscow, Russia

²Pulmonology Research Institute, Federal Medical-Biological Agency, 115682 Moscow, Russia

³National Medical Research Center for Children’s Health, Ministry of Health of Russia, 119296 Moscow, Russia

^# This study is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Department of Biochemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University (see vol. 84, no. 11, 2019).

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received June 4, 2019; Revised July 29, 2019; Accepted September 10, 2019

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Microbiota as an integral component of human body is actively investigated, including by massively parallel sequencing. However, microbiomes of lungs and sinuses have become the object of scientific attention only in the last decade. For patients with cystic fibrosis, monitoring the state of respiratory tract microorganisms is essential for maintaining lung function. Here, we studied the role of sinuses and polyps in the formation of respiratory tract microbiome. We identified Proteobacteria in the sinuses and samples from the lower respiratory tract (even in childhood). In some cases, they were accompanied by potentially dangerous basidiomycetes. The presence of polyps did not affect formation of the sinus microbiome. Proteobacteria are decisive in reducing the biodiversity of lung and sinus microbiomes, which correlated with the worsening of the lung function indicators. Soft mutations in the CFTR gene contribute to the formation of safer microbiome even in heterozygotes with class I mutations.

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KEY WORDS: microbiome, cystic fibrosis, airway, chronic rhinosinusitis, Proteobacteria

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297920010010

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