Observational studymBio2017
Bacterial Topography of the Healthy Human Lower Respiratory Tract.
Observational study in mBio, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 328 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Understanding the Lung Microbiome in HIV-Infected & HIV-Uninfected Individuals
Modulation of Steroid Immunosuppression by Alveolar Efferocytosis
Who cites it
328 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 556 citations in OpenAlex.
- Composition and diversity of the pulmonary microbiome in acute respiratory distress syndrome: a systematic review.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Pooled it
- The Role of Lung Microbiome in Fibrotic Interstitial Lung Disease-A Systematic Review.Biomolecules · 2024Pooled it
- Peripheral blood microbial signatures in current and former smokers.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of Nasal Solution Incorporating Resveratrol and Carboxymethyl-Β-Glucan in Preschool Non-Atopic Children with Wheezing.Nutrients · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Myeloid cell reprogramming drives enhanced defense againstProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- The role of the respiratory microbiome in acute and chronic respiratory diseases.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Review
- Mitochondria Meet the Lung Microbiome: A Bidirectional Dialogue in Inflammation and Respiratory Diseases.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Mechanisms and therapeutic strategies of asthma: from bench to bedside.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Dynamic balance of the lung microbiome in health and respiratory diseases.Chinese medical journal · 2026Review
- The Effects of Smoking on Respiratory Microbiota Diversity and Composition: A Systematic Review with Exploratory Meta-Analysis.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Early Environments, Lasting Effects: Air Pollution, Microbes, and Respiratory Infection Risk in Children.Pediatric pulmonology · 2026Review
- Exploring differences in alveolar microbiome between pulmonary tuberculosis patients with different treatment outcomes: a metagenomic study from China.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2026Article
- Multi-site microbiomes' response to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- The human lung microbiome progressively diminishes in the distal alveolar regions.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026Article
- The Role of the Respiratory Microbiome in Pneumonia.Clinics in chest medicine · 2026Review
- Targeting Inflammation in Bronchiectasis.Drugs · 2026Review
- Upper and Lower Respiratory Tract Compartmentalization in Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation.American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology · 2026Article
- Review
268 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Although culture-independent techniques have refuted lung sterility in health, controversy about contamination during bronchoscope passage through the upper respiratory tract (URT) has impeded research progress. We sought to establish whether bronchoscopic sampling accurately reflects the lung microbiome in health and to distinguish between two proposed routes of authentic microbial immigration, (i) dispersion along contiguous respiratory mucosa and (ii) subclinical microaspiration. During bronchoscopy of eight adult volunteers without lung disease, we performed seven protected specimen brushings (PSB) and bilateral bronchoalveolar lavages (BALs) per subject. We amplified, sequenced, and analyzed the bacterial 16S rRNA gene V4 regions by using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Rigorous attention was paid to eliminate potential sources of error or contamination, including a randomized processing order and the inclusion and analysis of exhaustive procedural and sequencing control specimens. Indices of mouth-lung immigration (mouth-lung community similarity, bacterial burden, and community richness) were all significantly greater in airway and alveolar specimens than in bronchoscope contamination control specimens, indicating minimal evidence of pharyngeal contamination. Ecological indices of mouth-lung immigration peaked at or near the carina, as predicted for a primary immigration route of microaspiration. Bacterial burden, diversity, and mouth-lung similarity were greater in BAL than PSB samples, reflecting differences in the sampled surface areas. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no. NCT02392182.)
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.