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MDPD reveals specific microbial signatures in human pulmonary diseases
Paramita Roy1, Dibakar Roy1, Sudipto Bhattacharjee2
1Department of Biological Sciences, Bose Institute, EN-80, Sector-V, Bidhan Nagar, Kolkata 700091, West Bengal, India.
Briefings in Bioinformatics
|March 5, 2026
Summary
A new database, Microbiome Database of Pulmonary Diseases (MDPD), catalogs 13 years of global pulmonary disease microbiome studies. It aids in identifying microbial signatures linked to specific lung diseases and healthy states.
Area of Science:
- Microbiome research
- Pulmonary medicine
- Bioinformatics
Background:
- Pulmonary diseases pose a significant global health challenge.
- Understanding the human microbiome is crucial for deciphering complex diseases like pulmonary conditions.
- Vast amounts of microbiome data have been generated, requiring systematic organization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce the Microbiome Database of Pulmonary Diseases (MDPD), an open-access resource.
- To provide a comprehensive catalog of pulmonary disease-related microbiome studies.
- To facilitate the analysis of microbial signatures associated with pulmonary diseases.
Main Methods:
- Manual curation of global studies from 2012 to 2024.
- Compilation of 59,362 runs from 430 BioProjects across 10 body sites.
- Inclusion of data from 19 pulmonary diseases and healthy groups, covering 278 sub-groups.
Main Results:
- MDPD offers analysis of individual and multiple BioProjects.
- Users can identify taxonomic profiles and disease-specific microbial signatures.
- Re-analyzed Biological Observation Matrix files are available for further applications like machine learning.
Conclusions:
- MDPD provides a valuable, curated resource for pulmonary disease microbiome research.
- The database enables in-depth analysis of microbial communities in various pulmonary conditions.
- Annotated microbial data offers insights into disease-causing potential and site specificity.
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