The purpose of this study was to investigate the composition of throat microbiota in pulmonary tuberculosis patients (PTB) in comparison to healthy tuberculin skin test positive (TSTp) and negative (TSTn) individuals. Throat swabs samples were collected, and the microbiota was characterized. Richer operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were present in PTB group, compared to TSTp and TSTn. Regarding alpha diversity analysis there was a higher community diversity in TSTn compared to TSTp. Beta diversity analysis showed different species composition in TSTp compared to TSTn and PTB. There was higher presence of Firmicutes in PTB and TSTn compared to TSTp group at phylum level. At the genus level, Leuconostoc and Enterococcus were higher in TSTn compared to TSTp and Pediococcus, Chryseobacterium, Bifidobacterium, Butyrivibrio, and Bulleidia were higher in PTB compared to TSTn. Streptococcus was higher in TSTn compared to PTB and Lactobacillus in PTB compared to TSTp. At species level, Streptococcus sobrinus and Bulleidia moorei were higher in PTB compared to TSTn individuals, while Lactobacillus salivarius was higher in PTB compared to TSTp. The differences in the microbiome composition could influence the resistance/susceptibility to Mtb infection.

中文翻译：

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马来西亚肺结核患者喉咙中的微生物多样性和结核菌素皮肤试验（TST）阳性和阴性健康个体

本研究的目的是调查肺结核患者 (PTB) 与健康结核菌素皮肤试验阳性 (TSTp) 和阴性 (TSTn) 个体的咽喉微生物群组成。收集了咽拭子样本，并对微生物群进行了表征。与 TSTp 和 TSTn 相比，PTB 组中存在更丰富的操作分类单元 (OTU)。关于 alpha 多样性分析，与 TSTp 相比，TSTn 中的群落多样性更高。Beta 多样性分析显示，与 TSTn 和 PTB 相比，TSTp 中的物种组成不同。在门水平上，与 TSTp 组相比，PTB 和 TSTn 中厚壁菌门的存在更高。在属水平上，TSTn 中的明串珠菌和肠球菌高于 TSTp 和片球菌、金黄色杆菌、双歧杆菌、丁酸弧菌、与 TSTn 相比，Bulleidia 在 PTB 中更高。与 PTB 相比，TSTn 中的链球菌和 PTB 中的乳酸菌高于 TSTp。在物种水平上，与 TSTn 个体相比，PTB 中的 Streptococcus sobrinus 和 Bulleidia moorei 更高，而与 TSTp 相比，PTB 中的唾液乳杆菌更高。微生物组组成的差异可能会影响对 Mtb 感染的抵抗力/易感性。