Mold may be culprit for severe lung disease

Patients with sarcoidosis have an impaired composition of the microbiome in the lower respiratory tract, scientists from the University of Bergen have found, Microbiome reported.

To test whether the composition of the microbiome is disturbed in sarcoidosis, the scientists involved 35 patients and 35 healthy people in the study. Patients with sarcoidosis did have an altered pulmonary microbiome. Specifically, they had a high diversity of Aspergillus fungi species in the lower airways and lower levels of antimicrobial peptides compared to healthy people.

In fact, the researchers found a possible link between the lower respiratory tract microbiome and the development of disease in sarcoidosis. For a long time, the lower airways were thought to be sterile, but they have recently been found to have their own set of ever-present microbes.

Sarcoidosis is a systemic inflammatory disease that is difficult to diagnose and treat, and its causes and mechanism remain unclear. Patients are characterized by an accumulation of immune cell granulomas in the lungs.