A groundbreaking study recently published by Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) found for the first time that Neisseria, a bacterium that lives in human lungs, may be the causative agent of bronchiectasis in Asian patients.asthmaChronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, COPD), breaking the previous understanding of Neisseria, this study was recently published in the journal Cell Host & Mircobe.
Bronchiectasis
Bronchiectasis, a chronic irreversible disease, is four times more common in Asians than in Westerners, increases rapidly with age and is seen in cases of recovery from tuberculosis. Studies have shown that the microbial composition of the lungs is related to the clinical phenotype of the disease and common pathogens currently include Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. Pneumoniae), Haemophilus influenzae (H. influenzae) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pseudomonas aeruginosa), all of which have the ability to cause invasive pneumonia.
The respiratory tract of patients with bronchiectasis is often curved, flaccid and enlarged and is prone to recurrent respiratory infections, resulting in persistent cough, chest pain, and dyspnoea. Once it deteriorates, it will cause irreversible deformation and expansion of the trachea, so treatment usually requires multiple treatments to control the condition to reduce the damage.
Neisseria is currently known to exist in the oral mucosa, throat and upper respiratory tract of man and can cause diseases such as meningococcal meningitis and gonorrhea, but prior to this study it was associated with bronchial The relevance of lung infection and disease progression in ectasia remains unknown. After NTU’s international research team analyzed the infection data of 225 patients with bronchiectasis in Singapore through next-generation sequencing and compared them with European patients, it was the first time that Neisseria may be the key pathogenic bacterium in Asian patients with bronchiectasis. and is associated with worse clinical outcomes.
Neisseria can play an important role in bronchiectasis
According to the NTU study, patients with bronchiectasis who had some amount of N. subflava in their lungs had more severe disease than those with lower levels of other bacteria, disease course, and recurrent infections. After further analysis using cell experiments and animal models, it was confirmed that Neisseria flavus can destroy cells, which in turn leads to symptoms such as inflammation and immune dysfunction in patients.
Additionally, the research team also found Neisseria in other chronic respiratory patients, including severe asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; After the source of the infection, it was found that the Asian environment in a tropical climate favors the growth of this bacterium.
The research team pointed out that this study is the first to show that Neisseria spp. If doctors can identify Neisseria early in patients’ lungs at an early stage, it could speed up individualized treatment and provide better results for Asian patients.
References:
1. https://www.ntu.edu.sg/news/detail/bacteria-previously-thinkt-harmless-linked-to-worsening-lung-disease
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