The Human Nasal Microbiome: A Perspective Study During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Malta

The human respiratory tract is colonized by a complex microbial community that helps maintain respiratory health and plays a crucial role in defending the host from infections. Respiratory viruses have been demonstrated to alter microbiota composition, resulting in opportunistic species expansion, a...

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Main Authors: David Pinzauti, Simon De Jaegher, Maria D’Aguanno, Manuele Biazzo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Microorganisms
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/12/2570
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author David Pinzauti
Simon De Jaegher
Maria D’Aguanno
Manuele Biazzo
author_facet David Pinzauti
Simon De Jaegher
Maria D’Aguanno
Manuele Biazzo
author_sort David Pinzauti
collection DOAJ
description The human respiratory tract is colonized by a complex microbial community that helps maintain respiratory health and plays a crucial role in defending the host from infections. Respiratory viruses have been demonstrated to alter microbiota composition, resulting in opportunistic species expansion, and increasing the disease severity and host susceptibility to bacterial co-infections. This study aims to examine the compositional differences in the nasal microbiota between SARS-CoV-2-infected and non-infected patients. We conducted Oxford Nanopore full-length 16S rRNA sequencing on nasal swabs from 94 COVID-19 negative and 85 COVID-19 positive patients collected during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Malta. Our analysis identified significant alpha and beta diversity differences in the nasal microbiota composition among our study groups. We observed a trend toward decreased microbial richness and evenness in the COVID-Positive cohort with and increased abundance of common nasal opportunistic species including <i>Citrobacter koseri</i>, <i>Dolosigranulum pigrum</i>, <i>Haemophilus influenzae</i>, <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i>, and <i>Moraxella catarrhalis</i>. The findings from this study are in line with previously published papers identifying key alterations in the nasal microbiota composition associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Understanding these microbiome-driven mechanisms could present novel prognostic markers or offer new approaches for disease prevention and treatment.
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spelling doaj-art-ba71e9759b414acf88d1583114bbddd92025-08-20T02:43:53ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072024-12-011212257010.3390/microorganisms12122570The Human Nasal Microbiome: A Perspective Study During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in MaltaDavid Pinzauti0Simon De Jaegher1Maria D’Aguanno2Manuele Biazzo3The BioArte Ltd., Life Science Park, Triq San Giljan, 3000 San Gwann, MaltaThe BioArte Ltd., Life Science Park, Triq San Giljan, 3000 San Gwann, MaltaThe BioArte Ltd., Life Science Park, Triq San Giljan, 3000 San Gwann, MaltaThe BioArte Ltd., Life Science Park, Triq San Giljan, 3000 San Gwann, MaltaThe human respiratory tract is colonized by a complex microbial community that helps maintain respiratory health and plays a crucial role in defending the host from infections. Respiratory viruses have been demonstrated to alter microbiota composition, resulting in opportunistic species expansion, and increasing the disease severity and host susceptibility to bacterial co-infections. This study aims to examine the compositional differences in the nasal microbiota between SARS-CoV-2-infected and non-infected patients. We conducted Oxford Nanopore full-length 16S rRNA sequencing on nasal swabs from 94 COVID-19 negative and 85 COVID-19 positive patients collected during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Malta. Our analysis identified significant alpha and beta diversity differences in the nasal microbiota composition among our study groups. We observed a trend toward decreased microbial richness and evenness in the COVID-Positive cohort with and increased abundance of common nasal opportunistic species including <i>Citrobacter koseri</i>, <i>Dolosigranulum pigrum</i>, <i>Haemophilus influenzae</i>, <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i>, and <i>Moraxella catarrhalis</i>. The findings from this study are in line with previously published papers identifying key alterations in the nasal microbiota composition associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Understanding these microbiome-driven mechanisms could present novel prognostic markers or offer new approaches for disease prevention and treatment.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/12/2570SARS-CoV-2COVID-19full-length 16Shuman nasal microbiome
spellingShingle David Pinzauti
Simon De Jaegher
Maria D’Aguanno
Manuele Biazzo
The Human Nasal Microbiome: A Perspective Study During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Malta
Microorganisms
SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19
full-length 16S
human nasal microbiome
title The Human Nasal Microbiome: A Perspective Study During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Malta
title_full The Human Nasal Microbiome: A Perspective Study During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Malta
title_fullStr The Human Nasal Microbiome: A Perspective Study During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Malta
title_full_unstemmed The Human Nasal Microbiome: A Perspective Study During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Malta
title_short The Human Nasal Microbiome: A Perspective Study During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Malta
title_sort human nasal microbiome a perspective study during the sars cov 2 pandemic in malta
topic SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19
full-length 16S
human nasal microbiome
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/12/2570
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