Distinguishing the dominant species of pathogen in ethmoidal sinusitis by sequencing DNA dataset analysis

Identifying the predominant microbial species in patients with ethmoidal sinusitis is conducive to its successful treatment. The aim of the present study was to determine the microbial composition and the predominant fungal and bacterial species in patients with ethmoidal sinusitis. A sample was obtained from 3 patients with ethmoidal sinusitis and from the ethmoid sinus of 2 healthy volunteers. Those samples were sequenced using an Illumina/Solexa sequencing platform for mapping to human, fungal, and bacterial genomes. Fungal and bacterial expressions in those samples were analyzed through bioinformatics and statistical methods. The sequencing data revealed that the dominant fungal strains in the ethmoidal sinusitis samples compared with the healthy controls (8_S33 and 10_S9) were Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus flavus, and the dominant bacterial strains were Haemophilus influenzae and Haemophilus parainfluenzae. Together, these findings indicate that the development of ethmoidal sinusitis is associated with the presence of fungi and bacteria, which may benefit the successful diagnosis and treatment for patients with ethmoidal sinusitis.