The dynamic lung microbiome in health and disease

New methods and technologies within the field of lung biology are beginning to shed new light into the microbial world of the respiratory tract. Long considered to be a sterile environment, it is now clear that the human lungs are frequently exposed to live microbes and their by-products. The nature of the lung microbiome is quite distinct from other microbial communities inhabiting our bodies such as those in the gut. Notably, the microbiome of the lung exhibits a low biomass and is dominated by dynamic fluxes of microbial immigration and clearance, resulting in a bacterial burden and microbiome composition that is fluid in nature rather than fixed. As our understanding of the microbial ecology of the lung improves, it is becoming increasingly apparent that certain disease states can disrupt the microbial-host interface and ultimately affect disease pathogenesis. In this Review, we provide an overview of lower airway microbial dynamics in health and disease and discuss future work that is required to uncover novel therapeutic targets to improve lung health. Like the gut, the lung harbours a diverse, interacting assortment of microbiota. In this review, Natalini, Singh and Segal examine the role of the lung microbiome in health and disease and discuss future work that is needed to produce novel diagnostic and therapeutic tools aimed at improving lung health.

Automated summary

New methods and technologies have revealed that the human lungs are not sterile, but have a distinct lung microbiome with low biomass and dynamic microbial immigration. Understanding the microbial ecology of the lung is crucial for identifying new therapeutic targets and improving lung health.