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Peer-reviewedCC BYFrontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Characterization of lower-airway microbial communities in pulmonary tuberculosis by BALF metagenomic sequencing

  • Hongxia Shao1
  • Xue Li2
  • Xuan Miao1
  • Liang Tang3
  • Yueying Gu4
  • Zhonghua Qin5
  • Junfeng Han1
  • Jing Li1
  • Qi Wang1
  • Wanjie Yang6
  • Huaiyong Chen2
  • Junping Wu1
6 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Tuberculosis, Haihe Hospital, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
  2. 2Tianjin Key Laboratory of Lung Regenerative Medicine, Haihe Hospital, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
  3. 3Department of Radiology, Haihe Clinical School, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
  4. 4Department of Tuberculosis, Haihe Clinical School, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
  5. 5Center for Accurate Detection of Tuberculosis, Haihe Hospital, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
  6. 6Key Research Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention for State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Tianjin, China
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Abstract

ObjectivePulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is an infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). This study aimed to characterize the lower-airway microbiome in patients with PTB and compare it with that of patients without PTB (Non-PTB) undergoing bronchoscopy for pulmonary disease, in order to describe differences in microbial composition between the two groups and improve our understanding of pulmonary microbial ecology in tuberculosis.MethodsWe performed metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from 75 patients (38 PTB, 37 Non-PTB). Microbial diversity, composition, and differential taxa were analyzed using standard bioinformatics tools.ResultsPTB samples showed higher Shannon and Simpson indices, whereas Richness did not differ significantly between groups. Beta diversity analyses revealed modest but statistically detectable differences in microbial community composition between PTB and Non-PTB samples. The PTB group showed higher relative abundances of MTBC and several oral-associated taxa (e.g., Prevotella and Fusobacterium), whereas Non-PTB samples showed higher relative abundances of taxa including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Aspergillus fumigatus.ConclusionThis BALF metagenomic study characterized lower-airway microbial features in patients with PTB and identified differences in microbial community composition and structure between PTB and patients with heterogeneous Non-PTB pulmonary diseases.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{shao2026characterization,
  title = {{Characterization of lower-airway microbial communities in pulmonary tuberculosis by BALF metagenomic sequencing}},
  author = {Hongxia Shao and Xue Li and Xuan Miao and Liang Tang and Yueying Gu and Zhonghua Qin and Junfeng Han and Jing Li and Qi Wang and Wanjie Yang and Huaiyong Chen and Junping Wu},
  journal = {Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3389/fcimb.2026.1938581},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2026.1938581},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Characterization of lower-airway microbial communities in pulmonary tuberculosis by BALF metagenomic sequencing
AU  - Hongxia Shao
AU  - Xue Li
AU  - Xuan Miao
AU  - Liang Tang
AU  - Yueying Gu
AU  - Zhonghua Qin
AU  - Junfeng Han
AU  - Jing Li
AU  - Qi Wang
AU  - Wanjie Yang
AU  - Huaiyong Chen
AU  - Junping Wu
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/23
JO  - Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
DO  - 10.3389/fcimb.2026.1938581
UR  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2026.1938581
AB  - ObjectivePulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is an infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). This study aimed to characterize the lower-airway microbiome in patients with PTB and compare it with that of patients without PTB (Non-PTB) undergoing bronchoscopy for pulmonary disease, in order to describe differences in microbial composition between the two groups and improve our understanding of pulmonary microbial ecology in tuberculosis.MethodsWe performed metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from 75 patients (38 PTB, 37 Non-PTB). Microbial diversity, composition, and differential taxa were analyzed using standard bioinformatics tools.ResultsPTB samples showed higher Shannon and Simpson indices, whereas Richness did not differ significantly between groups. Beta diversity analyses revealed modest but statistically detectable differences in microbial community composition between PTB and Non-PTB samples. The PTB group showed higher relative abundances of MTBC and several oral-associated taxa (e.g., Prevotella and Fusobacterium), whereas Non-PTB samples showed higher relative abundances of taxa including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Aspergillus fumigatus.ConclusionThis BALF metagenomic study characterized lower-airway microbial features in patients with PTB and identified differences in microbial community composition and structure between PTB and patients with heterogeneous Non-PTB pulmonary diseases.
SN  - 2235-2988
ER  -