Abstract
Aim: To investigate the impact of human herpes virus (HHV) carriage on lung microbiota, and its correlation with clinical features and laboratory indicators in patients. Methods: Retrospective analysis was conducted on 30 outpatient lung infection cases, which were divided into HHV (n = 15) and non-HHV (n = 15) groups. mNGS detected microbial composition. Microbial diversity and abundance were tested using Shannon and Chao1 indices. Their relationship with laboratory indicators were explored. Results: Significant differences in microbial abundance and distribution were found between two groups (p < 0.05). Moreover, HHV group showed negative correlations (p < 0.05) between Prevotella, Porphyromonas, Streptococcus and basophil/eosinophil percentages. Conclusion: HHV carriage impacts lung microbiota, emphasizing the need for clinicians to pay attention to HHV reactivation in outpatient lung infection patients.
Plain language summary
This study looked at how a common virus called human herpesvirus (HHV) affects the bacteria in our lungs. We wanted to see if HHV is linked to how sick we feel and what tests show. We split 30 people who had lung infections into two groups – 15 with HHV and 15 without – and checked how sick they felt, did some tests, and looked at the types of bacteria in their lungs. Both groups felt similarly sick and got better with medicine, but people with HHV had fewer of a certain type of blood cell. People with and without HHV also had different types of bacteria in their lungs. This study helps us understand why people get sick with lung infections and how to make them better. It might also help doctors decide how to treat people with lung infections.
Investigated the association between HHV reactivation and the pulmonary microbiota and clinical features in outpatient pulmonary infection patients.
Results
Found that eosinophils and basophils in the HHV group were significantly lower than in the non-HHV group (p < 0.05).
No significant difference in α diversity of lung microbiota between the HHV and non-HHV groups (p > 0.05), indicating similar abundance and evenness of microbiota in both groups.
No significant difference in β diversity of lung microbiota between the HHV and non-HHV groups (p > 0.05), suggesting similar community structure.
Significant differences were observed in certain microbial taxa between the HHV and non-HHV groups (p < 0.05), such as Bacteroidota, Bacillota, Proteobacteria at the phylum level and Pseudomonas, Streptococcus and Veillonella at the genus level.
Prevotella, Porphyromonas and Streptococcus at the genus level in the HHV group were significantly negatively correlated with basophil percentage (p < 0.05), and Porphyromonas and Streptococcus were also significantly negatively correlated with eosinophil percentage (p < 0.05).
Conclusion
This study detected HHV reactivation in outpatient pulmonary infection patients using mNGS. HHV reactivation is associated with decreased eosinophils and basophils. These findings provide important clues for further research into the mechanism of HHV reactivation in pulmonary infection and emphasize the need to pay attention to HHV reactivation in outpatient pulmonary infection patients.
Supplemental material
Supplementary data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/17460913.2024.2357994
Author contributions
Conceptualization: J Luo, R Xie; data curation: J Luo, R Xie, J Lin, Y Xu; formal analysis: J Lin, Y Xu, C Bao, X Yan; funding acquisition: J Luo, J Kong; investigation: X Yan; methodology: Z Yang, L Feng, J Wu; project administration: D Chen, Z He, Z Yang; resources: C Bao, X Yan; software: Z Yang; supervision: L Feng; validation: J Wu; visualization: D Chen; writing – original draft: J Luo, R Xie; writing – review & editing: J Lin, Y Xu, J Kong.
Financial disclosure
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 82104499, 82160783); the Key Research Program of Guangxi Science and Technology Department (grant number AB21196010); China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant number 2023MD734158); Youth talent fund project of GuangXi natural science foundation (grant number 2023GXNSFBA026146); the Innovation Project of Clinical Research Climbing Plan of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University (grant number YYZS2020016); and the Health and Family Planning Commission of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, self-funded projects (grant number Z20200825). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
Competing interests disclosure
The authors have no competing interests or relevant affiliations with any organization or entity with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
Writing disclosure
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.
Ethical conduct of research
This study was approved by The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University Ethics Committee (2020(KY-E-138). Informed consent was waived by the committee because of the retrospective nature of the study.