The lower airways microbiome and antimicrobial peptides in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis differ from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

• Published in: PloS one 2022-01, Vol.17 (1), p.e0262082
• Main Authors: Knudsen, Kristel S, Lehmann, Sverre, Nielsen, Rune, Tangedal, Solveig, Haaland, Ingvild, Hiemstra, Pieter S, Eagan, Tomas M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antimicrobial agents; Antimicrobial peptides; Antimicrobial Peptides - analysis; Bacteria - classification; Bacteria - genetics; Bacteria - isolation & purification; beta-Defensins - analysis; Biology and Life Sciences; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid - chemistry; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid - microbiology; Bronchoscopy; Bronchus; Case-Control Studies; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Comparative analysis; Composition; Computer and Information Sciences; Data collection; Defensins; Development and progression; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Female; Fibrosis; Health aspects; Hospitals; Humans; Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis - metabolism; Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis - microbiology; Immune response; Immune system; Leukocytes; Lung diseases; Lung diseases, Obstructive; Male; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Microbiomes; Microbiota; Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms); Microorganisms; Middle Aged; Obstructive lung disease; Pathogenesis; Patients; Peptides; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Protease inhibitors; Proteinase inhibitors; Proteins; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - metabolism; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - microbiology; Pulmonary fibrosis; Risk factors; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; rRNA 16S; Secretory Leukocyte Peptidase Inhibitor - metabolism; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Similarity
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262082

The lower airways microbiome and host immune response in chronic pulmonary diseases are incompletely understood. We aimed to investigate possible microbiome characteristics and key antimicrobial peptides and proteins in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). 12 IPF patients, 12 COPD patients and 12 healthy controls were sampled with oral wash (OW), protected bronchoalveolar lavage (PBAL) and right lung protected sterile brushings (rPSB). The antimicrobial peptides and proteins (AMPs), secretory leucocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI) and human beta defensins 1 and 2 (hBD-1 & hBD-2), were measured in PBAL by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The V3V4 region of the bacterial 16S rDNA gene was sequenced. Bioinformatic analyses were performed with QIIME 2. hBD-1 levels in PBAL for IPF were lower compared with COPD. The predominant phyla in IPF were Firmicutes, Bacteroides and Actinobacteria; Proteobacteria were among top three in COPD. Differential abundance analysis at genus level showed significant differences between study groups for less abundant, mostly oropharyngeal, microbes. Alpha diversity was lower in IPF in PBAL compared to COPD (p = 0.03) and controls (p = 0.01), as well as in rPSB compared to COPD (p = 0.02) and controls (p = 0.04). Phylogenetic beta diversity showed significantly more similarity for IPF compared with COPD and controls. There were no significant correlations between alpha diversity and AMPs. IPF differed in microbial diversity from COPD and controls, accompanied by differences in antimicrobial peptides. Beta diversity similarity between OW and PBAL in IPF may indicate that microaspiration contributes to changes in its microbiome.