Lung Dysbiosis, Inflammation, and Injury in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) is a common treatment for hematological neoplasms and autoimmune disorders. Among HCT recipients, pulmonary complications are common, morbid, and/or lethal, and they have recently been associated with gut dysbiosis. The role of lung microbiota in post-HCT pulmonary complications is unknown.

To investigate the role of lung microbiota in post-HCT pulmonary complications using animal modeling and human BAL fluid.

For animal modeling, we used an established murine model of HCT with and without postengraftment herpes virus infection. For human studies, we characterized lung microbiota in BAL fluid from 43 HCT recipients. Lung bacteria were characterized using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing and were compared with lung histology (murine) and with alveolar inflammation and pulmonary function testing (human).

Both HCT and viral infection independently altered the composition of murine lung microbiota, but they had no effect on lung microbial diversity. By contrast, combined HCT and viral infection profoundly altered lung microbiota, decreasing community diversity with an associated pneumonitis. Among human HCT recipients, increased relative abundance of the Proteobacteria phylum was associated with impaired pulmonary function, and lung microbiota were significantly associated with alveolar concentrations of inflammatory cytokines.

In animal models and human subjects, lung dysbiosis is a prominent feature of HCT. Lung dysbiosis is correlated with histologic, immunologic, and physiologic features of post-HCT pulmonary complications. Our findings suggest the lung microbiome may be an unappreciated target for the prevention and treatment of post-HCT pulmonary complications.