The Microbiome in Cystic Fibrosis

Huang, Yvonne J.; LiPuma, John J.

Observations from studies during the last decade have changed our conventional view of CF microbiology, which has traditionally focused on a relatively limited suite of opportunistic bacterial pathogens. Much of this change has been driven by the application of next-generation DNA sequencing technology to better assess the microbiota in CF respiratory specimens. We now appreciate that CF airways typically harbor complex microbial communities, and that changes in the structure and activity of these communities has bearing on patient clinical condition and lung disease progression. Recently, studies of gut microbiota suggest that the disordered bacterial ecology of the CF gastrointestinal tract is associated with lung pathology. Although challenges to a more complete understanding of the role lung and gut microbiota play in disease progression remain, these new insights provide exciting prospects to reconsider clinical management of CF.