Seasonal Dynamics of the Upper Respiratory Tract Microbiome in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

Introduction

Increasing evidence suggests that seasonal changes can trigger the alternation of airway microbiome. However, the dynamics of the upper airway bacterial ecology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients across different seasons remains unclear.

Methods

In this study, we present a 16S ribosomal RNA survey of the airway microbiome on 72 swab samples collected in different months (March, May, July, September, and November) in 2019 from 18 COPD patients and from six resampled patients in November in 2020.

Results

Our study uncovered a dynamic airway microbiota where changes appeared to be associated with seasonal alternation in COPD patients. Twelve clusters of temporal patterns were displayed by differential and clustering analysis along the time course, systematically revealing distinct microbial taxa that prefer to grow in cool and warm seasons, respectively. Moreover, the upper airway microbiome composition was relatively stable in the same season in different years.

Discussion

Given the tight association between airway microbiome and COPD disease progression, this study can provide useful information for clinically understanding the seasonal trend of disease phenotypes in COPD patients.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• upper airway microbiome
• seasonal variation

Abbreviations

COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; OTU, operational taxonomic unit; PCA, principal component analysis; ANOSIM, analysis of similarities.

Data Sharing Statement

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its Supplementary Information Files.

Ethics Approval and Informed Consent

This study was approved by the ethics committee of The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University (No.: 2022-02-239-01).

Consent for Publication

All participants provided written informed consent and the study was conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Author Contributions

SC participated in study design and sample collection. JG analyzed the patient data and prepared draft manuscript. XL and SL participated in sample collection and performed experiments. JY performed bioinformatics analysis and statistical analysis. DF, GL, HY, ZW assisted in resource acquisition and manuscript improvement. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. XY instructed the data analysis and prepared the final manuscript. YZ conceived, designed and supervised the study. All authors made substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; took part in drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; agreed to submit to the current journal; gave final approval of the version to be published; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported financially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41907211).