Bacterial Topography of the Healthy Human Lower Respiratory Tract

ABSTRACT Although culture-independent techniques have refuted lung sterility in health, controversy about contamination during bronchoscope passage through the upper respiratory tract (URT) has impeded research progress. We sought to establish whether bronchoscopic sampling accurately reflects the lung microbiome in health and to distinguish between two proposed routes of authentic microbial immigration, (i) dispersion along contiguous respiratory mucosa and (ii) subclinical microaspiration. During bronchoscopy of eight adult volunteers without lung disease, we performed seven protected specimen brushings (PSB) and bilateral bronchoalveolar lavages (BALs) per subject. We amplified, sequenced, and analyzed the…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

  Awards: I01 CX000911, I01 BX001389
• UO
  University of Michigan
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: R01 HL114447, U01 HL098961, UL1 TR000433, K23 HL130641