Nasal lavage microbiome, but not nasal swab microbiome, correlates with sinonasal inflammation in children with cystic fibrosis

BACKGROUND: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by highly viscous mucus obstructing the lower and upper airways, chronic neutrophil inflammation and infection resulting not only in lung destruction but also in paranasal sinus involvement. The pathogenesis of CF-associated chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is still not well understood, and it remains unclear how the microbiome in the upper airways (UAW) influences paranasal sinus inflammation. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study in pediatric patients with CF under stable disease conditions, we examined the microbiome in relation to inflammation by comparing nasal swabs (NS) and nasal lavage (NL) as two UAW sampling methods. The microbiota structure of both NS and NL was determined by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. In addition, pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1

• Chung, J.
• Boutin, S.
• Frey, D. L.
• Joachim, C.
• Mall, M. A.
• Sommerburg, O.