Annals of the American Thoracic Society
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Investigation of the human microbiome has become an important field of research facilitated by advances in sequencing technologies. The lung, which is one of the latest body sites being explored for the characterization of human-associated microbial communities, has a microbiome that is suspected to play a substantial role in health and disease. ⋯ We also provide examples of lung microbial communities associated with disease or infection status and discuss the role of fungal species in the lung. Finally, we review studies demonstrating that the environmental microbiome can influence lung health and disease, such as the finding that the diversity of microbial exposure correlates inversely with the development of childhood asthma.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Fungal exposure, atopy, and asthma exacerbations in Puerto Rican children.
Glucan is a component of the fungal cell wall that is used as a marker of fungal exposure. Little is known about indoor glucan, atopy, and asthma exacerbations among children living in tropical environments such as Puerto Rico. Our objective was to examine whether glucan exposure is associated with degree of atopy or visits to the emergency department (ED)/urgent care for asthma in Puerto Rican children. ⋯ Our results suggest that indoor fungal exposure leads to an increased degree of atopy and visits to the ED/urgent care for asthma in Puerto Rican children.
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Multicenter Study
Variation in the percent of emphysema-like lung in a healthy, nonsmoking multiethnic sample. The MESA lung study.
Computed tomography (CT)-based lung density is used to quantitate the percentage of emphysema-like lung (hereafter referred to as percent emphysema), but information on its distribution among healthy nonsmokers is limited. ⋯ Similar to lung function, percent emphysema varies substantially by demographic factors and body size among healthy never-smokers. The presented reference equations will assist in defining abnormal values for percent emphysema and total lung volume on CT scans, although validation is pending.