Characterization of the upper respiratory tract microbiota in Chilean asthmatic children reveals compositional, functional, and structural differences

Around 155 million people worldwide suffer from asthma. In Chile, the prevalence of this disease in children is around 15% and has a high impact in the health system. Studies suggest that asthma is caused by multiple factors, including host genetics, antibiotic use, and the development of the airway...

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Main Authors: Ignacio Ramos-Tapia, Katiuska L. Reynaldos-Grandón, Marcos Pérez-Losada, Eduardo Castro-Nallar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Allergy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/falgy.2023.1223306/full
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author Ignacio Ramos-Tapia
Katiuska L. Reynaldos-Grandón
Marcos Pérez-Losada
Eduardo Castro-Nallar
Eduardo Castro-Nallar
author_facet Ignacio Ramos-Tapia
Katiuska L. Reynaldos-Grandón
Marcos Pérez-Losada
Eduardo Castro-Nallar
Eduardo Castro-Nallar
author_sort Ignacio Ramos-Tapia
collection DOAJ
description Around 155 million people worldwide suffer from asthma. In Chile, the prevalence of this disease in children is around 15% and has a high impact in the health system. Studies suggest that asthma is caused by multiple factors, including host genetics, antibiotic use, and the development of the airway microbiota. Here, we used 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing to characterize the nasal and oral mucosae of 63 asthmatic and 89 healthy children (152 samples) from Santiago, Chile. We found that the nasal mucosa was dominated by a high abundance of Moraxella, Dolosigranulum, Haemophilus, Corynebacterium, Streptococcus, and Staphylococcus. In turn, the oral mucosa was characterized by a high abundance of Streptococcus, Haemophilus, Gemella, Veillonella, Neisseria, and Porphyromonas. Our results showed significantly (P < 0.001) lower alpha diversity and an over-abundance of Streptococcus (P < 0.01) in nasal samples from asthmatics compared to samples from healthy subjects. Community structure, as revealed by co-occurrence networks, showed different microbial interactions in asthmatic and healthy subjects, particularly in the nasal microbiota. The networks revealed keystone genera in each body site, including Prevotella, Leptotrichia, and Porphyromonas in the nasal microbiota, and Streptococcus, Granulicatella, and Veillonella in the oral microbiota. We also detected 51 functional pathways differentially abundant on the nasal mucosa of asthmatic subjects, although only 13 pathways were overrepresented in the asthmatic subjects (P < 0.05). We did not find any significant differences in microbial taxonomic (composition and structure) and functional diversity between the oral mucosa of asthmatic and healthy subjects. This study explores for the first time the relationships between the upper respiratory airways bacteriome and asthma in Chile. It demonstrates that the nasal cavity of children from Santiago harbors unique bacterial communities and identifies potential taxonomic and functional biomarkers of pediatric asthma.
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spelling doaj.art-3c1a68f5b867444ea3f50dc94c16a5bc2023-07-28T17:49:30ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Allergy2673-61012023-07-01410.3389/falgy.2023.12233061223306Characterization of the upper respiratory tract microbiota in Chilean asthmatic children reveals compositional, functional, and structural differencesIgnacio Ramos-Tapia0Katiuska L. Reynaldos-Grandón1Marcos Pérez-Losada2Eduardo Castro-Nallar3Eduardo Castro-Nallar4Centro de Bioinformática y Biología Integrativa, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, ChileFacultad de Enfermería, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, ChileComputational Biology Institute, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, United StatesDepartamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Talca, Talca, ChileCentro de Ecología Integrativa, Universidad de Talca, Talca, ChileAround 155 million people worldwide suffer from asthma. In Chile, the prevalence of this disease in children is around 15% and has a high impact in the health system. Studies suggest that asthma is caused by multiple factors, including host genetics, antibiotic use, and the development of the airway microbiota. Here, we used 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing to characterize the nasal and oral mucosae of 63 asthmatic and 89 healthy children (152 samples) from Santiago, Chile. We found that the nasal mucosa was dominated by a high abundance of Moraxella, Dolosigranulum, Haemophilus, Corynebacterium, Streptococcus, and Staphylococcus. In turn, the oral mucosa was characterized by a high abundance of Streptococcus, Haemophilus, Gemella, Veillonella, Neisseria, and Porphyromonas. Our results showed significantly (P < 0.001) lower alpha diversity and an over-abundance of Streptococcus (P < 0.01) in nasal samples from asthmatics compared to samples from healthy subjects. Community structure, as revealed by co-occurrence networks, showed different microbial interactions in asthmatic and healthy subjects, particularly in the nasal microbiota. The networks revealed keystone genera in each body site, including Prevotella, Leptotrichia, and Porphyromonas in the nasal microbiota, and Streptococcus, Granulicatella, and Veillonella in the oral microbiota. We also detected 51 functional pathways differentially abundant on the nasal mucosa of asthmatic subjects, although only 13 pathways were overrepresented in the asthmatic subjects (P < 0.05). We did not find any significant differences in microbial taxonomic (composition and structure) and functional diversity between the oral mucosa of asthmatic and healthy subjects. This study explores for the first time the relationships between the upper respiratory airways bacteriome and asthma in Chile. It demonstrates that the nasal cavity of children from Santiago harbors unique bacterial communities and identifies potential taxonomic and functional biomarkers of pediatric asthma.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/falgy.2023.1223306/full16S rRNAasthmanasal bacteriomeChilean microbiotaupper respiratory tract
spellingShingle Ignacio Ramos-Tapia
Katiuska L. Reynaldos-Grandón
Marcos Pérez-Losada
Eduardo Castro-Nallar
Eduardo Castro-Nallar
Characterization of the upper respiratory tract microbiota in Chilean asthmatic children reveals compositional, functional, and structural differences
Frontiers in Allergy
16S rRNA
asthma
nasal bacteriome
Chilean microbiota
upper respiratory tract
title Characterization of the upper respiratory tract microbiota in Chilean asthmatic children reveals compositional, functional, and structural differences
title_full Characterization of the upper respiratory tract microbiota in Chilean asthmatic children reveals compositional, functional, and structural differences
title_fullStr Characterization of the upper respiratory tract microbiota in Chilean asthmatic children reveals compositional, functional, and structural differences
title_full_unstemmed Characterization of the upper respiratory tract microbiota in Chilean asthmatic children reveals compositional, functional, and structural differences
title_short Characterization of the upper respiratory tract microbiota in Chilean asthmatic children reveals compositional, functional, and structural differences
title_sort characterization of the upper respiratory tract microbiota in chilean asthmatic children reveals compositional functional and structural differences
topic 16S rRNA
asthma
nasal bacteriome
Chilean microbiota
upper respiratory tract
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/falgy.2023.1223306/full
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