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Analysis of airway microbiota in adults from a Brazilian cystic fibrosis center

  • Clinical Microbiology - Research Paper
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Abstract

The application of next-generation sequencing tools revealed that the cystic fibrosis respiratory tract is a polymicrobial environment. We have characterized the airway bacterial microbiota of five adult patients with cystic fibrosis during a 14-month period by 16S rRNA tag sequencing using the Illumina technology. Microbial diversity, estimated by the Shannon index, varied among patient samples collected throughout the follow-up period. The beta diversity analysis revealed that the composition of the airway microbiota was highly specific for each patient, showing little variation among the samples of each patient analyzed over time. The composition of the bacterial microbiota did not reveal any emerging pathogen predictor of pulmonary disease in cystic fibrosis or of its unfavorable clinical progress, except for unveiling the presence of anaerobic microorganisms, even without any established clinical association. Our results could potentialy help us to translate and develop strategies in response to the pathobiology of this disease, particularly because it represents an innovative approach for CF centers in Brazil.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the medical staff and patients from Policlínica Piquet Carneiro/ Pedro Ernesto University Hospital (PPC-HUPE), a reference center for adult patients in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We thank the Bacteriology laboratory from HUPE for generous assistance in obtaining sputum samples for this study.

Funding

FAPERJ-Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro–Grant E-26/110.742/2013.

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Author notes

  1. Rodolpho Mattos Albano and Elizabeth Andrade Marques contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Cassiana Costa Ferreira Leite, Flavia Alvim Dutra de Freitas, Robson Souza Leão & Elizabeth Andrade Marques

  2. Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medical Sciences, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Mônica de Cássia Firmida

  3. Department of Biochemistry, Roberto Alcântara Gomes Biology Institute, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Rodolpho Mattos Albano

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  1. Cassiana Costa Ferreira Leite
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth Andrade Marques.

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This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Pedro Ernesto University Hospital: CAAE 78893515.1.0000.5259.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Responsible Editor: Mariana X. Byndloss

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Leite, C.C.F., de Freitas, F.A.D., de Cássia Firmida, M. et al. Analysis of airway microbiota in adults from a Brazilian cystic fibrosis center. Braz J Microbiol 51, 1747–1755 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-020-00381-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-020-00381-3

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