The bacterial microbiota in inflammatory lung diseases

- Numerous lines of evidence, both old and recent, have demonstrated that the lungs are NOT bacteria-free during health.
- Bacterial exposure and colonization of the lungs during health is most likely constant and transient, respectively.
- Long term bacterial colonization occurs only during a disease state.
- Only a few new bacterial colonizers, with unknown roles in lung disease, have been identified by culture-independent methods.

Numerous lines of evidence, ranging from recent studies back to those in the 1920s, have demonstrated that the lungs are NOT bacteria-free during health. We have recently proposed that the entire respiratory tract should be considered a single ecosystem extending from the nasal and oral cavities to the alveoli, which includes gradients and niches that modulate microbiome dispersion, retention, survival and proliferation. Bacterial exposure and colonization of the lungs during health is most likely constant and transient, respectively. Host microanatomy, cell biology and innate defenses are altered during chronic lung disease, which in turn, alters the dynamics of bacterial turnover in the lungs and can lead to longer term bacterial colonization, as well as blooms of well-recognized respiratory bacterial pathogens. A few new respiratory colonizers have been identified by culture-independent methods, such as Pseudomonas fluorescens; however, the role of these bacteria in respiratory disease remains to be determined.