Changes in pharyngeal microbiota composition in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

<bold>Background</bold> Whether respiratory microbiota correlated to the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) remains unclear. <bold>Methods</bold> Throat swab samples were collected from 16 patients with IPF and 16 matched control subjects for the 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing(V3-V4 region). <bold>Results</bold> The α-diversity indexes were markedly lower in the IPF group(Figure1), and by principal coordinate analysis, the microbiota on the pharynx showed differing profiles. DESeq2-based differential analysis suggested that Butyricicoccus, Faecalibacterium etc. in the IPF group were significantly upregulated at the genus level. LEfSe analysis revealed that Veillonella and Leptotrichia in the control group were significantly higher than the other group. Moreover, based on the PICRUSt2 algorithm, pathways correlated with amino acid metabolism, glucose metabolism, and vitamin B1 metabolism were significantly enriched in the control group compared with the IPF group. <bold>Conclusions</bold> This study provides a systematic profile of the pharyngeal microbiota in patients suffering from IPF, contributing to the improved understanding of the disease from the perspective of microbes. Impaired diversity of the pharyngeal microbiota and the presence of characterized bacteria may be related to the occurrence of IPF which is worth subsequent study with significant advantages as non-invasive biomarkers. <fig><object-id>erj;64/suppl_68/PA4454/F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><graphic></graphic></fig>