Sex effects in the association between airway microbiome and asthmaOriginal paper
Karen Pendergrass is a microbiome researcher specializing in microbiome-targeted interventions (MBTIs). She systematically analyzes scientific literature to identify microbial patterns, develop hypotheses, and validate interventions. As the founder of the Microbiome Signatures Database, she bridges microbiome research with clinical practice. In 2012, based on her own investigative research, she became the first documented case of FMT for Celiac Disease, four years before the first published case study.
Read MoreWhat was studied?
Researchers asked whether sex modifies the link between the airway microbiome and asthma, a question not previously investigated.
How was it studied?
Induced sputum from 47 adults, 23 with asthma and 24 controls, was analyzed by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. Bacterial composition and asthma associations were compared separately for women and men, at the core taxa and genus levels.
What did they find?
The airway microbiome differed by sex at the community level, though no sex-specific core taxa emerged among the five shared core taxa. Streptococcus salivarius, the most abundant core taxon, was more plentiful in women, and within each sex lower S salivarius abundance tracked with asthma. Lactobacillus species were elevated in asthma patients of both sexes, while Haemophilus species were linked to asthma only in men.
Why it matters
Sex-specific patterns suggest the airway microbiome may help explain known sex differences in asthma, and future studies may need to stratify by sex for clearer results.