Selected abstract: Diversity and composition of the microbiome in the lower respiratory tract is associated with lung damage in tuberculosis patients from Tanzania

Selected abstract: Diversity and composition of the microbiome in the lower respiratory tract is associated with lung damage in tuberculosis patients from Tanzania

Pulmonary Tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent globally. In the lungs, Mtb faces an army of immune cells but also commensal microorganisms inhabiting the lower respiratory tract (LRT), the LRT microbiome. It is currently unknown how Mtb interacts with the LRT microbiome. We assessed the association of the diversity and composition of LRT microbiome with TB disease in a large cross-sectional case-control study.

We demonstrate that not only TB but also the degree of lung damage are associated to the LRT microbiome composition. Variations of LRT microbiome by degree of lung damage might be a consequence of the appearance of new niches and/or effects of individual differences in immune response.