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A curious connection: Teasing apart the link between gut microbes and lung disease

Nature Medicine volume 23, pages 402–404 (2017)Cite this article

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This procedure is something that Dickson and his collaborators routinely do to determine the composition of bacterial colonies in the lung. By detailing the microbial makeup within the lungs of healthy volunteers, he hopes to strike upon insights that can help to inform the treatment of various lung ailments. Dickson, a pulmonary and critical-care physician at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, primarily treats patients who develop lung infections such as pneumonia, often as a result of extended stays in intensive care units (ICUs). These patients tend to be among the sickest and have weaker immune systems, and prolonged hospital stays make them more susceptible to acquiring infections from the hospital environment. Dickson uses the same bronchoscopic technique of brushing the airways for microbes in his healthy volunteers as he does to sample bacteria in his patients to discern, for example, whether a pneumonia infection is caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Streptococcus pneumoniae. Knowing which types of bacteria are present helps him to determine the best course of treatment.

But Dickson and his colleagues are increasingly realizing that the microbes in the lung don't seem to be the sole ones contributing to pneumonia. Microbes in the gut also seem to have some influence on lung health. “I think we've all been surprised by how strong the connection is between gut bacteria and lung health,” he says.

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  1. Shraddha Chakradhar is Nature Medicine's associate news editor in Boston.,

    Shraddha Chakradhar

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  1. Shraddha Chakradhar
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Chakradhar, S. A curious connection: Teasing apart the link between gut microbes and lung disease. Nat Med 23, 402–404 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0417-402

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