Study shows a changed microbiome in the lower airways for sarcoidosis patients

Sarcoidosis is a systemic inflammatory disease that is difficult to diagnose and treat, partly because its cause and mechanism remain unclear. It is characterized by the formation of immune cell clusters called granulomas, primarily in the lungs. Given the involvement of this immune response, sarcoidosis may be caused by an infectious pathogen.

It was long assumed that the lower airways were sterile, but it has now been established that the airways have their own "microbiome". This is a collective term for the microbes that are present in the airways at all times.

The MicroILD study investigated 35 sarcoidosis patients and 35 healthy controls. Compared with healthy controls, patients with sarcoidosis had a different microbiome in their lungs. In particular, there was an excess of the fungal species Aspergillus in the lower airways and lower levels of antimicrobial peptides in sarcoidosis patients compared to healthy controls.

The study indicates a possible connection between the microbiome in the lower airways and disease development in sarcoidosis.

- This is one of few studies that shows a changed microbiome in the lower airways for sarcoidosis-patients, explains PhD-candidate at the University of Bergen, Kristel Knudsen.