Microbial Dysbiosis in the Lung and Gut in Response to Inhalable Particulate Matters in Pneumoconiosis Patients and Animals

作者：Huimin Ma, Zheng Dong, Xu Zhang, Ning Li, Conghe Liu, Xi Zhou, Jin He, Juan Ma, Shuping Zhang, Haidong Kan, Sijin Liu · 发表于：Environmental Science & Technology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1021/acs.est.5c00798 · 被引用次数：10 · 研究领域：Air Quality and Health Impacts、Climate Change and Health Impacts、Health, psychology, and well-being

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Pneumoconiosis is a progressive and life-threatening fibrotic lung disorder caused by the prolonged deposition of inhaled particulate matters (PMs); thus far, no cure is available. Emerging evidence has suggested that the resulting disordered respiratory microbiome is caused by disturbed lung architecture and homeostasis responding to inhalable PMs. Lung microbiome dysbiosis also contributes to injury to the lung and distant organs, such as the intestine, through the lung–gut axis. Current studies on the microbiome–disease interplay are still in their infancy, and sufficient understanding of microbial heterogeneity in pathological processes is lacking. Here we investigated the microbiome in the lung and gut of patients with pneumoconiosis in comparison to healthy individuals. Our findings indicated reciprocal causation between lung injuries and microbial dysbiosis under particle exposure; pulmonary Streptococcus and Stenotrophomonas, along with intestinal Ligilactobacillus and Blautia, may represent key microbial communities influencing pneumoconiosis progression. We defined close microbiota crosstalk between the lung and gut, as evidenced by their interaction networks, implying considerable effects on the gut microenvironment through either direct microbial translocation or other mechanisms such as inflammation-driven alterations. Animal experiments further corroborated the findings in humans. Collectively, our results highl...