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Research letter
Microbiome in lung explants of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a case–control study in patients with end-stage fibrosis
  1. Georgios D Kitsios1,2,
  2. Mauricio Rojas1,
  3. Daniel J Kass1,
  4. Adam Fitch1,2,
  5. John C Sembrat1,
  6. Shulin Qin1,2,
  7. Kristen L Veraldi1,
  8. Kevin F Gibson1,
  9. Kathleen Lindell1,
  10. Joseph M Pilewski1,
  11. Barbara Methe1,2,
  12. Kelvin Li2,
  13. John McDyer1,
  14. Bryan J McVerry1,2,
  15. Alison Morris1,2,3
  1. 1 Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
  2. 2 Department of Medicine, Center for Medicine and the Microbiome, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
  3. 3 Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
  1. Correspondence to Georgios D Kitsios, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, NW628 Montefiore Hospital, 3459 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA; kitsiosg{at}upmc.edu

Abstract

The microbiome has been proposed to play a role in the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) based on bronchoalveolar lavage analyses, but the microbiome of lung tissue in IPF has not been explored. In a case–control study of lung explants analysed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we could not reliably detect bacterial DNA in basilar tissue samples from patients with either chronic or acute exacerbations of IPF, in contrast to control candidate-donor lungs or cystic fibrosis explants. Thus, our data do not indicate microbiome alterations in regions of IPF lung with advanced fibrosis.

  • interstitial fibrosis
  • respiratory infection
  • bacterial infection

https://doi.org/10.1136/thoraxjnl-2017-210537

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors Study conception and design: GDK, MR, JCS, JM, BJM, AM. Data acquisition: GDK, MR, AF, JCS, SQ, KLV, DJK, KL, KFG, JMP, BM, KL, BJM, JM, AM. Data analysis and interpretation: GDK, MR, AF, JCS, SQ, KLV, DJK, KL, KFG, BM, JMP, KL, BJM, JM, AM. Drafting of the manuscript: GDK, MR, AF, JCS, DJK, KLV, BJM, AM. Critical revision of the manuscript: GDK, MR, AF, JCS, SQ, KLV, DJK, KL, KFG, BM, JMP, KL, BJM, JM, AM. Approval of manuscript for submission: GDK, MR, AF, JCS, SQ, KLV, DJK, KL, KFG, BM, JMP, KL, BJM, JM, AM.

    • Funding National Institutes of Health T32 HL007563-29, K24 HL123342, R01 HL123766-01A1, P30 DK 72506, Breathe Pennsylvania Lung Health Research Grant and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Research Development Program, Center for Medicine and the Microbiome University of Pittsburgh.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Ethics approval The University of Pittsburgh Institutional Review Board and Committee for Oversight of Research and Clinical Training Involving Decedents approved the study.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

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