Ressource pédagogique : Prof. Mike Surette - The Good and the Bad of Commensal-Pathogen Interactions in the Airways

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The airways are colonized by a complex microbiota that varies in composition and density spatially throughout the respiratory tract, as well as temporally through the life-course.  While the lower respiratory tract has traditionally been considered sterile in healthy individuals, it is now clear that the lower airways are continuously seeded with microbiota from oral and upper respiratory tract. This may represent a transient community that is cleared and reseeded in healthy individuals; however, it is clear that in chronic airway disease, members of this commensal microbiota thrive in the lower airways.  Here they are often in the presence of the pathogens traditionally associated with chronic lung infections.  These may simply represent opportunistic colonizers with little contribution to disease, or they may contribute to disease as part of polymicrobial infections, or more directly as pathogens themselves.  The pathogenic potential of many commensal microbiota is under appreciated.  Conversely, the commensal microbiota plays an integral role in colonization resistance, and the ability of commensal microbiota to inhibit the growth of common pathogens is widespread.  The dichotomy in ‘good vs bad’ behaviour of commensal microbiota is often a ‘strain’ rather than species specific property.  While the complexity of these commensal-pathogen Interactions pose a challenge in standard diagnostic and microbiome profiling approaches to respiratory disease, they do represent opportunities for novel interventions in managing chronic airway disease and reducing susceptibility to respiratory infections in vulnerable populations.  

"Domaine(s)" et indice(s) Dewey

• Maladies des poumons (hypertension artérielle pulmonaire, hypertension pulmonaire, maladie obstructive respiratoire chronique, maladies respiratoires, ouvrages généraux sur les maladies des bronches et des poumons) (616.24)

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