scholarly journals Anterior Nares Diversity and Pathobionts Represent Sinus Microbiome in Chronic Rhinosinusitis

mSphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilke De Boeck ◽  
Stijn Wittouck ◽  
Katleen Martens ◽  
Jos Claes ◽  
Mark Jorissen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT It is generally believed that the microbiome plays a role in the pathophysiology of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), though its exact contribution to disease development and severity remains unclear. Here, samples were collected from the anterior nares, nasopharynx, and maxillary and ethmoid sinuses of 190 CRS patients and from the anterior nares and nasopharynx of 100 controls. Microbial communities were analyzed by Illumina sequencing of the V4 region of 16S rRNA. The phenotype and patient characteristics were documented, and several serum inflammatory markers were measured. Our data indicate a rather strong continuity for the microbiome in the different upper respiratory tract (URT) niches in CRS patients, with the microbiome in the anterior nares being most similar to the sinus microbiome. Bacterial diversity was reduced in CRS patients without nasal polyps compared to that in the controls but not in CRS patients with nasal polyps. Statistically significant differences in the presence/absence or relative abundance of several taxa were found between the CRS patients and the healthy controls. Of these, Dolosigranulum pigrum was clearly more associated with URT samples from healthy subjects, while the Corynebacterium tuberculostearicum, Haemophilus influenzae/H. aegyptius, and Staphylococcus taxa were found to be potential pathobionts in CRS patients. However, CRS versus health as a predictor explained only 1 to 2% of the variance in the microbiome profiles in an adonis model. A history of functional endoscopic sinus surgery, age, and sex also showed a minor association. This study thus indicates that functional studies on the potential beneficial versus pathogenic activity of the different indicator taxa found here are needed to further understand the pathology of CRS and its different phenotypes. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifier NCT02933983.) IMPORTANCE There is a clear need to better understand the pathology and specific microbiome features in chronic rhinosinusitis patients, but little is known about the bacterial topography and continuity between the different niches of the upper respiratory tract. Our work showed that the anterior nares could be an important reservoir for potential sinus pathobionts. This has implications for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of CRS. In addition, we found a potential pathogenic role for the Corynebacterium tuberculostearicum, Haemophilus influenzae/H. aegyptius, and Staphylococcus taxa and a potential beneficial role for Dolosigranulum. Finally, a decreased microbiome diversity was observed in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps compared to that in healthy controls but not in chronic rhinosinusitis patients with nasal polyps. This suggests a potential role for the microbiome in disease development or progression of mainly this phenotype.

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-25
Author(s):  
M E Dyneva ◽  
O M Kurbacheva ◽  
E L Savlevich

Asthma in most cases is under control due to the success of modern pharmacotherapy. At the same time questions concerning the treatment of asthma and comorbidities like chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) remain unresolved. Among the causes of СRSwNP formation a microbial aggression or an inadequate immune response (allergy) to various types of antigens (allergens) are considered. Congenital, individual characteristics and abnormalities of the corresponding anatomical structures are also cited as factors contributing to the development of CRSwNP. A functional integrated immunity system - the lymphoid tissue associated with the mucous membranes (MALT), infectious and allergic inflammation in the upper respiratory tract can significantly affect the lower respiratory tract and vice versa. Inflammation is the cornerstone of CRSwNP pathogenesis, that’s why understanding of inflammatory response will reveal the mechanisms of asthma severity in combination with CRSwNP.


mSphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine M. Mokrzan ◽  
Kolapo A. Dairo ◽  
Laura A. Novotny ◽  
Lauren O. Bakaletz

ABSTRACT Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) colonizes the human nasopharynx, but when the host immune response is dysregulated by upper respiratory tract (URT) virus infection, NTHI can gain access to more distal airway sites and cause disease. The NTHI type IV pilus (T4P) facilitates adherence, benign colonization, and infection, and its majority subunit PilA is in clinical trials as a vaccinogen. To further validate the strategy of immunization with PilA against multiple NTHI-induced diseases, it is important to demonstrate T4P expression under microenvironmental conditions that predispose to NTHI infection of the airway. Because URT infection commonly facilitates NTHI-induced diseases, we examined the influence of ongoing virus infection of respiratory tract epithelial cells on NTHI T4P expression in vitro. Polarized primary human airway epithelial cells (HAEs) were sequentially inoculated with one of three common URT viruses, followed by NTHI. Use of a reporter construct revealed that NTHI upregulated pilA promoter activity when cultured with HAEs infected with adenovirus (AV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), or rhinovirus (RV) versus that in mock-infected HAEs. Consistent with these results, pilA expression and relative PilA/pilin abundance, as assessed by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunoblot, respectively, were also significantly increased when NTHI was cultured with virus-infected HAEs. Collectively, our data strongly suggest that under conditions of URT virus infection, PilA vaccinogen induction of T4P-directed antibodies is likely to be highly effective against multiple NTHI-induced diseases by interfering with T4P-mediated adherence. We hypothesize that this outcome could thereby limit or prevent the increased load of NTHI in the nasopharynx that characteristically precedes these coinfections. IMPORTANCE Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) is the predominant bacterial causative agent of many chronic and recurrent diseases of the upper and lower respiratory tracts. NTHI-induced chronic rhinosinusitis, otitis media, and exacerbations of cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease often develop during or just after an upper respiratory tract viral infection. We have developed a vaccine candidate immunogen for NTHI-induced diseases that targets the majority subunit (PilA) of the type IV twitching pilus (T4P), which NTHI uses to adhere to respiratory tract epithelial cells and that also plays a role in disease. Here, we showed that NTHI cocultured with virus-infected respiratory tract epithelial cells express significantly more of the vaccine-targeted T4P than NTHI that encounters mock-infected (healthy) cells. These results strongly suggest that a vaccine strategy that targets the NTHI T4P will be effective under the most common predisposing condition: when the human host has a respiratory tract virus infection.


mBio ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ammar Zafar ◽  
Alexandria J. Hammond ◽  
Shigeto Hamaguchi ◽  
Weisheng Wu ◽  
Masamitsu Kono ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTHost-to-host transmission is a necessary but poorly understood aspect of microbial pathogenesis. Herein, we screened a genomic library of mutants of the leading respiratory pathogenStreptococcus pneumoniaegenerated by mariner transposon mutagenesis (Tn-Seq) to identify genes contributing to its exit or shedding from the upper respiratory tract (URT), the limiting step in the organism’s transmission in an infant mouse model. Our analysis focused on genes affecting the bacterial surface that directly impact interactions with the host. Among the multiple factors identified was thedltlocus, which addsd-alanine onto lipoteichoic acids (LTA) and thereby increases Toll-like receptor 2-mediated inflammation and resistance to antimicrobial peptides. The more robust proinflammatory response in the presence ofd-alanylation promotes secretions that facilitate pneumococcal shedding and allows for transmission. Expression of thedltlocus is controlled by the CiaRH system, which senses cell wall stress in response to antimicrobial activity, including in response to lysozyme, the most abundant antimicrobial along the URT mucosa. Accordingly, in alysM−/−host, there was no longer an effect of thedltlocus on pneumococcal shedding. Thus, our findings demonstrate how a pathogen senses the URT milieu and then modifies its surface characteristics to take advantage of the host response for transit to another host.IMPORTANCEStreptococcus pneumoniae(the pneumococcus) is a common cause of respiratory tract and invasive infection. The overall effectiveness of immunization with the organism’s capsular polysaccharide depends on its ability to block colonization of the upper respiratory tract and thereby prevent host-to-host transmission. Because of the limited coverage of current pneumococcal vaccines, we carried out an unbiasedin vivotransposon mutagenesis screen to identify pneumococcal factors other than its capsular polysaccharide that affect transmission. One such candidate was expressed by thedltlocus, previously shown to addd-alanine onto the pneumococcal lipoteichoic acid present on the bacterial cell surface. This modification protects against host antimicrobials and augments host inflammatory responses. The latter increases secretions and bacterial shedding from the upper respiratory tract to allow for transmission. Thus, this study provides insight into a mechanism employed by the pneumococcus to successfully transit from one host to another.


2015 ◽  
Vol 213 (10) ◽  
pp. 1596-1605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph A. Lewnard ◽  
Noga Givon-Lavi ◽  
Amit Huppert ◽  
Melinda M. Pettigrew ◽  
Gili Regev-Yochay ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Hao ◽  
Yan Zhao ◽  
Ping Wang ◽  
Kun Du ◽  
Ying Li ◽  
...  

Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is a chronic sinonasal inflammatory disease with limited treatment options of corticosteroids, sinus surgery, or both. CRSwNP is frequently associated with allergic rhinitis and asthma, but the molecular mechanisms underlying CRSwNP inflammation are not completely understood. We obtained four gene expression profiles (GSE136825, GSE36830, GSE23552, and GSE72713) from four Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), which collectively included 65 nasal polyp samples from CRSwNP patients and 54 nasal mucosal samples from healthy controls. Using an integrated analysis approach, we identified 76 co-differentially expressed genes (co-DEGs, including 45 upregulated and 31 downregulated) in CRSwNP patients compared with the healthy controls. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses identified the terms including immune effector process, leukocyte migration, regulation of the inflammatory response, Staphylococcus aureus infection, and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction. protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) showed that 7 genes might be crucial in CRSwNP pathogenesis. Repurposing drug candidates (Alfadolone, Hydralazine, SC-560, Iopamidol, Iloprost, etc) for CRSwNP treatment were identified from the Connectivity Map (CMap) database. Our results suggest multiple molecular mechanisms, diagnostic biomarkers, potential therapeutic targets, and new repurposing drug candidates for CRSwNP treatment.


mBio ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tonia Zangari ◽  
Mila B. Ortigoza ◽  
Kristen L. Lokken-Toyli ◽  
Jeffrey N. Weiser

ABSTRACT The dynamics underlying respiratory contagion (the transmission of infectious agents from the airways) are poorly understood. We investigated host factors involved in the transmission of the leading respiratory pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. Using an infant mouse model, we examined whether S. pneumoniae triggers inflammatory pathways shared by influenza A virus (IAV) to promote nasal secretions and shedding from the upper respiratory tract to facilitate transit to new hosts. Here, we show that amplification of the type I interferon (IFN-I) response is a critical host factor in this process, as shedding and transmission by both IAV and S. pneumoniae were decreased in pups lacking the common IFN-I receptor (Ifnar1−/− mice). Additionally, providing exogenous recombinant IFN-I to S. pneumoniae-infected pups was sufficient to increase bacterial shedding. The expression of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) was upregulated in S. pneumoniae-infected wild-type (WT) but not Ifnar1−/− mice, including genes involved in mucin type O-glycan biosynthesis; this correlated with an increase in secretions in S. pneumoniae- and IAV-infected WT compared to Ifnar1−/− pups. S. pneumoniae stimulation of ISGs was largely dependent on its pore-forming toxin, pneumolysin, and coinfection with IAV and S. pneumoniae resulted in synergistic increases in ISG expression. We conclude that the induction of IFN-I signaling appears to be a common factor driving viral and bacterial respiratory contagion. IMPORTANCE Respiratory tract infections are a leading cause of childhood mortality and, globally, Streptococcus pneumoniae is the leading cause of mortality due to pneumonia. Transmission of S. pneumoniae primarily occurs through direct contact with respiratory secretions, although the host and bacterial factors underlying transmission are poorly understood. We examined transmission dynamics of S. pneumoniae in an infant mouse model and here show that S. pneumoniae colonization of the upper respiratory tract stimulates host inflammatory pathways commonly associated with viral infections. Amplification of this response was shown to be a critical host factor driving shedding and transmission of both S. pneumoniae and influenza A virus, with infection stimulating expression of a wide variety of genes, including those involved in the biosynthesis of mucin, a major component of respiratory secretions. Our findings suggest a mechanism facilitating S. pneumoniae contagion that is shared by viral infection.


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