16S rRNA gene sequencing data of BAL in recurrent wheezing infants and foreign body aspiration control infants

Objectives: Exploring the bronchial bacterial microbiota of infants with recurrent wheezing that differ from foreign body aspiration controls, and the recurrent wheezing infants with atopy that differ from that without atopy to reveal the interactions between recurrent wheezing disease and bronchial bacterial microbiota.

Methods: Bacterial communities in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples from15 atopic wheezing infants, 15 non-atopic wheezing infants, and 18 foreign body aspiration control infants were characterized using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Atopy was defined based on skin prick test evidence of sensitivity to ≥1 of 12 aeroallergens. BAL was performed using a fiberoptic bronchoscope through the airway via a laryngeal mask. The bacterial composition and community-level functions inferred from between-group differences from sequence profiles were analyzed.

Results: Both α-and β-diversity differed significantly between the groups. Compared to non-atopic wheezing infants, atopic wheezing infants showed a significantly higher abundance in two phyla (Deinococcota and unidentified bacteria) and one genus (Haemophilus) and a significantly lower abundance in one phylum (Actinobacteria).The random forest predictive model of 10 genera based on OTU-based features suggested that airway microbiota has diagnostic value for distinguishing atopic wheezing infants from non-atopic wheezing infants. PICRUSt2 based on KEGG hierarchy (level 3) revealed that atopic wheezing-associated differences in predicted bacterial functions included cytoskeleton proteins, glutamatergic synapses, and porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism pathways.

研究目的：本研究旨在探究复发性喘息婴儿与异物吸入对照组的支气管细菌菌群差异，以及伴特应性与不伴特应性的复发性喘息婴儿的支气管细菌菌群差异，以阐明复发性喘息疾病与支气管细菌菌群之间的相互作用机制。
研究方法：本研究采用16S rRNA基因测序（16S rRNA gene sequencing）技术，对15例伴特应性复发性喘息婴儿、15例不伴特应性复发性喘息婴儿及18例异物吸入对照婴儿的支气管肺泡灌洗液（bronchoalveolar lavage, BAL）样本中的细菌群落进行表征。特应性的判定标准为：经皮肤点刺试验（skin prick test）证实对12种气源性变应原（aeroallergens）中至少1种存在过敏反应。本研究通过纤维支气管镜经喉罩建立气道通路采集BAL样本。基于测序序列谱的组间差异，分析细菌群落组成及群落水平功能。
研究结果：各组间的α多样性（α-diversity）与β多样性（β-diversity）均存在显著差异。与不伴特应性复发性喘息婴儿相比，伴特应性复发性喘息婴儿的两个菌门——异常球菌门（Deinococcota）与未鉴定细菌——以及一个菌属（嗜血杆菌属Haemophilus）的相对丰度显著升高，而放线菌门（Actinobacteria）的相对丰度显著降低。基于OTU（操作分类单元）特征构建的10个菌属随机森林预测模型显示，气道菌群对区分伴与不伴特应性的复发性喘息婴儿具有诊断价值。基于京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）三级层级的PICRUSt2分析结果表明，与伴特应性复发性喘息相关的预测细菌功能差异包括细胞骨架蛋白、谷氨酸能突触以及卟啉与叶绿素代谢通路。