The Human Microbiome in the Lung: Are Infections Contributing to Lung Health and Disease?

Nanomedicine at the Pulmonary Frontier: Immune-Centric Approaches for Respiratory Disease Treatment

Respiratory diseases (RD) are a group of common ailments with a rapidly increasing global prevalence, posing a significant threat to humanity, especially the elderly population, and imposing a substantial burden on society and the economy. RD represents an unmet medical need that requires the development of viable pharmacotherapies. While various promising strategies have been devised to advance potential treatments for RD, their implementation has been hindered by difficulties in drug delivery, particularly in critically ill patients. Nanotechnology offers innovative solutions for delivering medications to the inflamed organ sites, such as the lungs. Although this approach is enticing, delivering nanomedicine to the lungs presents complex challenges that require sophisticated techniques. In this context, we review the potential of novel nanomedicine-based immunomodulatory strategies that could offer therapeutic benefits in managing this pressing health condition.

Current Evidence on Tobacco Harm Reduction in Pneumology: Interviews with Two Key Opinion Leaders

The negative impact of smoking on the lung is well documented. Cigarette smoke is the cause of 90% of cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. COPD is a progressive and debilitating condition with morbidity and mortality rates similar to myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke. Despite the widely recognised risks, millions of people continue to smoke, in some cases even after receiving a diagnosis of COPD and despite knowing that the habit will accelerate disease progression. While there is no doubt that smoking cessation is the most important health intervention for all cigarette smokers, it can be challenging. Nicotine addiction, social norms and culture, and the length of time it can take smokers to feel the adverse consequences of the habit all contribute to the high cessation failure rate. However, increasing clinical and epidemiological evidence indicates that for those who are unwilling or cannot stop smoking, harm reduction strategies can help reduce exposure to the harmful chemicals and carcinogens released during tobacco combustion. Electronic devices heat processed tobacco without combusting it to deliver an aerosol containing fewer toxic products or harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHC) than cigarette smoke. Clinical evidence to support their use is growing. In Japan, for example, a decrease in hospitalisations due to COPD exacerbation after the introduction of such heat-not-burn (HNB), or tobacco heating systems (THS), has been reported. In this article, Wolfgang Popp, Döbling Doctor’s Center, Privatklinik Döbling, Vienna, Austria, and Klara Szondy, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary, discuss the impact of cigarette smoke on the lung, and how to support smoking cessation in those willing and able to quit smoking. They also explain when strategies that reduce the harmful effects of smoking may be useful, and outline the latest evidence supporting the use of HNB systems.

Autophagy markers as mediators of lung injury-implication for therapeutic intervention

Lung injury is characterized by inflammatory processes demonstrated as loss of function of the pulmonary capillary endothelial and alveolar epithelial cells. Autophagy is an intracellular digestion system that work as an inducible adaptive response to lung injury which is a resultant of exposure to various stress agents like hypoxia, ischemia-reperfusion and xenobiotics which may be manifested as acute lung injury (ALI), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), chronic lung injury (CLI), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI), ventilator-associated lung injury (VALI), pulmonary fibrosis (PF), cystic fibrosis (CF) and radiation-induced lung injury (RILI). Numerous regulators like LC3B-II, Beclin 1, p62, HIF1/BNIP3 and mTOR play pivotal role in autophagy induction during lung injury possibly for progression/inhibition of the disease state. The present review focuses on the critical autophagic mediators and their potential cross talk with the lung injury pathophysiology thereby bringing to limelight the possible therapeutic interventions.

Characterization of Microbiota in Cancerous Lung and the Contralateral Non-Cancerous Lung Within Lung Cancer Patients

Background

The functional role of lung microbiota has attracted an accumulating attention recently, but the profile and functional role of the lung microbiota in patients with lung cancer remained largely unknown.

Methods

To evaluate the association of the microbiota with lung cancer, we performed comparative analysis of the lung microbiota using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing approach in the paired bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples (paired samples from cancerous lung and the contralateral non-cancerous lung) from 50 cancer patients with unilateral lobar masses.

Results

We found that the relative abundance of phylum Tenericutes, its class Mollicutes, its order Entomoplasmatales, its family Spiroplasmataceae, and its genus Spiroplasma was significantly increased in cancerous lung, but the relative abundance of phylum Bacteroidetes, its class Bacteroidia, and its order Bacteroidales was significantly decreased in cancerous lung. In addition, the relative abundance of family Leuconostocaceae and its genus Weissella was significantly increased in cancerous lung.

Conclusion

Our findings provide insights into a change of lung microbiota community associated with the development of lung cancer.