The right microbes in your lungs can make COPD symptoms better

You carry ten times more bacterial cells in your body than human cells. These bacteria make up the microbiome, alongside viral and fungal microorganisms. You have different but connected (and overlapping) microbiomes in your body:

1. Oropharynx microbiome (mouth and throat).
2. Lung microbiome.
3. Gut microbiome.
4. Skin microbiome.
5. Vaginal and/or urinary tract microbiome.

We have written about having a balanced microbiome before, mostly in relation to the microbes that live in your gut. There is growing scientific evidence that the microbes that live in your lungs have an influence on inflammation in your lungs and the symptoms of diseases like COPD.

Microbiota dysbiosis (an unbalanced microbiome) is caused by changes in the structure, quantity, and variety of bacteria throughout your body. Dysbiosis can mean you become more susceptible to infection by various pathogens. This in turn can exacerbate gut and brain autoimmunity and inflammation.

A healthy lung microbiome consistently changes and is influenced by the balance and health of the neighbouring oropharynx and gut microbiomes. The physical state of your lungs can also influence its microbiome, for example when you are not able to clear mucus from your lungs, or have damaged lung structures, this can alter your lung microbiome – contributing to microbial dysbiosis.

A Nature paper (read more here) summarises the association of the lung microbiome with different lung diseases, like COPD, COVID-19, pneumonia, cystic fibrosis, asthma, cancer, sarcoidosis and bronchiectasis (see figure from the paper below).

Figure: The connection between the lung, oropharynx, and gut microbiomes.

 

The lung microbiome is important if you suffer from a lung disease

You can improve your immune response by enhancing your microbiomes with prebiotics and probiotics. The right bacteria in your body send signals to your immune system to alter inflammatory and pathogen responses. 

One of the challenges people with lung diseases face is they are prone to contracting infections and are therefore more likely to need antibiotic treatments which can damage their microbiome. Scientists are working to develop more specific antibiotics, so that the pathogenic bacteria are killed while the good bacteria are left undisturbed.

Scientists are also exploring the metabolites (or compounds) that the “good” bacteria produce to see if they can treat people with those metabolites if they have ongoing issues with lung inflammation. For example, short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced by gut bacteria can inhibit the inflammatory response in the lungs. We still don’t know much about the specific metabolites of “good” bacteria in different parts of the body’s microbiome. Are the metabolites produced by the lung microbes different? Do they act differently?

Diseases, such as asthma and COPD, have different microbial variations influencing the diseases. Scientists are evaluating whether we can alter the path of a disease by colonising the lungs with specific “good” bacteria, or treatment with metabolites.

There is still much to understand and unravel and nuances exist across the different lung diseases. In saying that, anything you can do to improve the balance of your microbiome (read more here and here) will support good lung health and a reduction of disease symptoms.

All the best, Anna and Darcy.

If you would like to discuss any of this further, please contact Darcy or Anna (who you can contact at +64 27 599 2255 or +64 27 4861418 respectively) or via info@zesttwellness.com.