Respiratory Microbiome Profiles Associated With Distinct Inflammatory Phenotype and Clinical Indexes in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Introduction/Objective: Respiratory microbiome studies have fostered our understanding of the various phenotypes and endotypes of heterogeneous chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study aimed to identify microbiome-driven clusters that reflect the clinical features and dominant microbiota of COPD. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 32 patients with stable COPD between December 2019 and December 2020 from the outpatient clinic of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital. Sputum samples were tested for 16S rRNA. Patients were classified according to the species level using an unsupervised clustering method to compare the inflammatory phenotypes of 2 clusters and analyze the correlation between the main bacteria and clinical indicators in each cluster. Patients were further divided into 2 clusters according to microorganisms. Results: Neutrophils in cluster 1 were significantly increased compared with cluster 2. Cluster 1 was predominantly Conclusion: This study found that differential flora was negatively associated with CAT scores and the number of acute exacerbations of COPD. This microbiome-driven, unbiased clustering method for COPD can help identify new endotype-related COPD phenotypes.