Dysbiosis associated with enhanced microbial mobility across the respiratory tract in pulmonary tuberculosis patients

From BugSigDB
Needs review
study design
Citation
PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.
DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.
URI Uniform resource identifier for web resources.
Authors
Qin M., Ding W., Qin L., Liang R., Guo Y., Zhao Y., Xu H., Wen Y., Pang Y., Li L.
Journal
BMC microbiology
Year
2025
Keywords:
Interaction, Microbiota, Pulmonary tuberculosis, Respiratory tract
BACKGROUND: The microbiota is actively engaged in interaction networks both with the host and among its own constituent members. However, comprehensive studies examining the microbiome profiles across various respiratory sites in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) are lacking. Here, we explored the diversity of the microbiome in PTB patients across multiple respiratory sites and investigated potential interactions between the microbiomes of these sites. METHODS: A total of 130 respiratory tract samples were collected from multiple sites of 22 patients with PTB and 14 healthy individuals, including the oral cavity, trachea, and both the healthy and affected sides of the lungs. These samples were subjected to metagenomic sequencing to analyze the characteristics and diversity of the respiratory microbiome. RESULTS: We found that the respiratory tract of PTB patients had higher microbial diversity than seen in the healthy individuals (8,182 vs 6,465). Among them, Rothia, Prevotella and Actinomyces exhibited higher proportions in PTB. The characteristics of high diversity features in the oral site were more prominent with PTB, especially the notable difference of Rothia mucilaginosa. Additionally, Streptococcus, Neisseria, Prevotella and Fusobacterium have strong interactions with other species at present at various sites of PTB patients, as well as frequent communication between these species during migration in the upper and lower respiratory tract. CONCLUSIONS: The diversity and translocation of microbiota across the respiratory tract in PTB patients are associated with increased susceptibility of microbiome. The predominance of Rothia, Prevotella, and Actinomyces may represent progression-associated microbial signatures, warranting mechanistic studies on their pathogenic potential through host-microbe interactions to guide therapeutic targeting. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12866-025-04206-x.

Experiment 1


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/12

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Subjects

Location of subjects
China
Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.
Homo sapiens
Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology
Oral cavity Bucca,Buccal cavity,Cavity of mouth,Oral cavity,oral cavity
Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology
Pulmonary tuberculosis lung TB,lung tuberculosis,pulmonary TB,pulmonary tuberculosis,Tuberculosis, Pulmonary,Pulmonary tuberculosis
Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Healthy control (HC) group
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) group
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
All PTB participants were diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), had no prior history of tuberculosis (TB), tested positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) through pathogen detection, and showed radiological signs consistent with PTB without any other concurrent pulmonary diseases.
Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group
14
Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group
22
Antibiotics exclusion Number of days without antibiotics usage (if applicable) and other antibiotics-related criteria used to exclude participants (if any)
2 weeks

Lab analysis

Sequencing type
WMS
16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene
Not specified
Sequencing platform Manufacturer and experimental platform used for quantifying microbial abundance
Illumina

Statistical Analysis

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).
relative abundances
Statistical test
Mann-Whitney (Wilcoxon)
Significance threshold p-value or FDR threshold used for differential abundance testing (if any)
0.05
MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?
No
Matched on Factors on which subjects have been matched on in a case-control study
age, sex

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness
unchanged
Chao1 Abundance-based estimator of species richness
increased
Simpson Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species evenness
unchanged
Richness Number of species
increased

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/12

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Source: Figure 4d and S3a

Description: Differential abundance of the most dominant taxa in the oral specimen of PTB and HC groups at the genus and species levels.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) group

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Actinomyces israelii
Rothia dentocariosa
Rothia mucilaginosa
Streptococcus koreensis
Streptococcus rubneri
Streptococcus sp. A12
Streptococcus ilei

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Signature 2

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/13

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Source: Figure 4d and S3a

Description: Differential abundance of the most dominant taxa in the oral specimen of PTB and HC groups at the genus and species levels.

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) group

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Campylobacter concisus
Capnocytophaga leadbetteri
Capnocytophaga sputigena
Dialister pneumosintes
Kingella denitrificans
Parvimonas micra
Prevotella dentalis
Prevotella veroralis
Segatella oris
Selenomonas sputigena
Treponema denticola
Treponema medium
Treponema putidum
Treponema socranskii
Treponema vincentii
Aggregatibacter sp. 2125159857
Treponema sp. OMZ 906
Treponema sp. OMZ 857
Aggregatibacter sp. Marseille-P9115
Capnocytophaga sp. FDAARGOS_737
Treponema sp. OMZ 305
Treponema sp. OMZ 803
Capnocytophaga endodontalis

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Experiment 2


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/13

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology
Oral cavity , Carina of trachea Bucca,Buccal cavity,Cavity of mouth,Oral cavity,oral cavity,Bifurcation of the trachea,Carina,Carina (anatomy),Carina of trachea,Carina tracheae,Tracheal carina,carina of trachea
Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Tracheal Carina (TC) samples in PTB group
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Oral samples in PTB group
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
Oral samples collected from PTB participants
Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group
22

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness
unchanged
Chao1 Abundance-based estimator of species richness
increased
Simpson Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species evenness
unchanged
Richness Number of species
increased

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/13

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Source: Figure 3d

Description: Relative abundance of oral samples compared to Tracheal Carina (TC) samples in PTB patients.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Oral samples in PTB group

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Actinomyces naeslundii
Actinomyces oris
Actinomyces sp. oral taxon 171
Lautropia mirabilis
Rothia aeria
Streptococcus sanguinis

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Experiment 3


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/14

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology
Carina of trachea Bifurcation of the trachea,Carina,Carina (anatomy),Carina of trachea,Carina tracheae,Tracheal carina,carina of trachea
Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Healthy control (HC) group
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) group
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
All PTB participants were diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), had no prior history of tuberculosis (TB), tested positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) through pathogen detection, and showed radiological signs consistent with PTB without any other concurrent pulmonary diseases.
Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group
14

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness
unchanged
Chao1 Abundance-based estimator of species richness
increased
Simpson Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species evenness
unchanged
Richness Number of species
increased

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/14

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Source: Figure 4e and S3b

Description: Differentially abundant microbial species in the Tracheal Carina (TC) of PTB patients compared to healthy controls (HC).

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) group

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Rothia aeria
Sphingomonas sp. SUN019
Streptococcus salivarius
Veillonella dispar

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Signature 2

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/14

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Source: Figure 4e and S3b

Description: Differentially abundant microbial species in the Tracheal Carina (TC) of PTB patients compared to healthy controls (HC).

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) group

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Dolosigranulum pigrum
Lactiplantibacillus plantarum
Staphylococcus haemolyticus
Streptococcus sp. LPB0220
Chitinophaga pinensis
Ectopseudomonas guguanensis
Marixanthomonas sp. SCSIO 43207
Photobacterium sp. DA100
Mycolicibacterium nivoides
Arthrobacter sp. NicSoilC5

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Experiment 4


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/14

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology
Lung Pulmo,Lung,lung
Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Healthy side (HS) of the lung in Healthy control (HC) group
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Affected side (AS) of the lung in Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) group
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
Samples collected from Affected side of the lung in PTB patients

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/15

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Source: Figure 4f

Description: Differentially abundant microbial species in the Affected side (AS) of the lung of PTB patients compared to HS of the lung of healthy controls (HC).

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Affected side (AS) of the lung in Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) group

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Rothia mucilaginosa

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Signature 2

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/15

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Source: Figure 4f

Description: Differentially abundant microbial species in the Affected side (AS) of the lung of PTB patients compared to HS of the lung of healthy controls (HC).

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Affected side (AS) of the lung in Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) group

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Caldibacillus thermoamylovorans
Pseudomonas sp. Pc102

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Experiment 5


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/16

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology
Oral cavity , Lung Bucca,Buccal cavity,Cavity of mouth,Oral cavity,oral cavity,Pulmo,Lung,lung
Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Healthy side (HS) of the lung samples in PTB group
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Oral samples in PTB group
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
Oral samples collected from PTB participants
Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group
22

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness
unchanged
Chao1 Abundance-based estimator of species richness
increased
Simpson Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species evenness
unchanged
Richness Number of species
increased

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/16

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Source: Figure 3d

Description: Relative abundance of oral samples compared to Healthy side (HS) of the lung samples in PTB patients.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Oral samples in PTB group

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Lautropia mirabilis
Actinomyces naeslundii
Rothia aeria
Actinomyces sp. oral taxon 171
Actinomyces oris
Streptococcus sanguinis

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Experiment 6


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/16

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Affected side (AS) of the lung samples in PTB group

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness
unchanged
Chao1 Abundance-based estimator of species richness
increased
Simpson Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species evenness
unchanged
Richness Number of species
increased

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/16

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Source: Figure 3d

Description: Relative abundance of oral samples compared to Affected side (AS) of the lung samples in PTB patients.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Oral samples in PTB group

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Actinomyces naeslundii
Actinomyces oris
Actinomyces sp. oral taxon 171
Lautropia mirabilis
Rothia aeria
Streptococcus sanguinis

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Experiment 7


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/16

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology
Left lung , Right lung Left lung,left lung,Right lung,right lung
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Healthy side (HS) of the lung samples in PTB group
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
Healthy side (HS) of the lung samples collected from PTB participants

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness
unchanged
Chao1 Abundance-based estimator of species richness
increased
Simpson Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species evenness
unchanged
Richness Number of species
increased

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/16

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Source: Figure 3d

Description: Relative abundance of Healthy side (HS) of the lung samples compared to Affected side (AS) of the lung samples in PTB patients.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Healthy side (HS) of the lung samples in PTB group

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Actinomyces naeslundii

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Experiment 8


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/16

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology
Lung Pulmo,Lung,lung
Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Healthy side (HS) of the lung in Healthy control (HC) group
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Healthy side (HS) of the lung in Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) group
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
Samples collected from Healthy side of the lung in PTB patients
Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group
14

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).
Not specified


Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/16

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Source: Figure 4f

Description: Differentially abundant microbial species in the Healthy side (HS) of the lung of PTB patients compared to HS of the lung of healthy controls (HC).

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Healthy side (HS) of the lung in Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) group

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Rothia mucilaginosa

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Signature 2

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/16

Curator: Firdaws

Revision editor(s): Firdaws

Source: Figure 4f

Description: Differentially abundant microbial species in the Healthy side (HS) of the lung of PTB patients compared to HS of the lung of healthy controls (HC).

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Healthy side (HS) of the lung in Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) group

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Pseudomonas sp. Pc102
Acinetobacter johnsonii
Caldibacillus thermoamylovorans

Revision editor(s): Firdaws