Nasal Microbiome Diversity: Insights and Implications from a Lithuanian Cohort Study

In our clinical study, we collected nasal, nasopharyngeal, and bronchoalveolar samples from participants for comprehensive 16S rRNA sequencing analysis using Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Alongside this, we gathered demographic and clinical data from the participants. Our analysis, encompassing 97 individuals from Lithuania, including those with chronic inflammatory respiratory diseases and healthy volunteers, demonstrated that the human nasal microbiome is a representative of the upper airways' microbiome. Intriguingly, we found that a healthy nasal microbiome often includes several species associated with plants and bees. This observation suggests the potential for nasal microbiota enrichment through such environmental exposures.