Trends in Non-Tuberculous Mycobacterial Lung Disease and Treatment Outcomes in a Low-Tuberculosis Prevalence Setting: A Retrospective Analysis.

Background: Information on the management of non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung infection and disease is scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the trends in NTM lung infections, and the factors associated with the initiation of treatment and treatment outcomes.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was carried out on patient medical records from Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, from 2000 to 2021.

Microbiological diagnosis of pleural infections: a comparative evaluation of a novel syndromic real-time PCR panel.

Current microbial diagnostics for pleural infections are insufficient. Studies using 16S targeted next-generation sequencing report that only 10%-16% of bacteria present are cultured and that 50%-78% of pleural fluids containing relevant microbial DNA remain culture negative. As a rapid diagnostic alternative suitable for clinical laboratories, we wanted to explore a PCR-based approach.

Malnutrition as a prognostic factor for 2-year mortality in hospitalized patients in Norway: A matched cohort study.

Background: Risk of malnutrition and malnutrition have been previously associated with increased risk of mortality. It remains unclear, however, whether the severity of malnutrition differentiates in association with all-cause mortality. The aim was to assess the association between being at risk of malnutrition or being diagnosed with malnutrition according to the diagnostic assessment of the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) with all-cause mortality during a 2-year follow-up in hospitalized patients.

Lower airway microbiota in COPD and healthy controls.

Background: The lower airway microbiota in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are likely altered compared with the microbiota in healthy individuals. Information on how the microbiota is affected by smoking, use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and COPD severity is still scarce.

Methods: In the MicroCOPD Study, participant characteristics were obtained through standardised questionnaires and clinical measurements at a single centre from 2012 to 2015.

Pleural Empyema Caused by Streptococcus intermedius and Fusobacterium nucleatum: A Distinct Entity of Pleural Infections.

Background: Many community-acquired pleural infections are caused by facultative and anaerobic bacteria from the human oral microbiota. The epidemiology, clinical characteristics, pathogenesis, and etiology of such infections are little studied. The aim of the present prospective multicenter cohort study was to provide a thorough microbiological and clinical characterization of such oral-type pleural infections and to improve our understanding of the underlying etiology and associated risk factors.

Comparison of nutritional risk screening with NRS2002 and the GLIM diagnostic criteria for malnutrition in hospitalized patients.

Nutritional risk screening, to identify patients at risk of malnutrition, is the first step in the prevention and treatment of malnutrition in hospitalized patients, and should be followed by a thorough nutritional assessment resulting in a diagnosis of malnutrition and subsequent treatment. In 2019, a consensus on criteria has been suggested for the diagnosis of malnutrition by the Global Leadership Initiative for Malnutrition (GLIM). This study investigates the diagnosis of malnutrition in hospitalized patients using nutritional risk screening and the diagnostic assessment suggested by GLIM.

The lower airways microbiota and antimicrobial peptides indicate dysbiosis in sarcoidosis.

Background: The role of the pulmonary microbiome in sarcoidosis is unknown. The objectives of this study were the following: (1) examine whether the pulmonary fungal and bacterial microbiota differed in patients with sarcoidosis compared with controls; (2) examine whether there was an association between the microbiota and levels of the antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in protected bronchoalveolar lavage (PBAL).

Methods: Thirty-five sarcoidosis patients and 35 healthy controls underwent bronchoscopy and were sampled with oral wash (OW), protected BAL (PBAL), and left protected sterile brushes (LPSB).

A longitudinal study of the pulmonary mycobiome in subjects with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Few studies have examined the stability of the pulmonary mycobiome. We report longitudinal changes in the oral and pulmonary mycobiome of participants with and without COPD in a large-scale bronchoscopy study (MicroCOPD).

Methods: Repeated sampling was performed in 30 participants with and 21 without COPD.

Clinical information predicting severe obstructive sleep apnea: A cross-sectional study of patients waiting for sleep diagnostics.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is highly prevalent with serious health consequences. Demand for diagnostic studies is high, in many countries exceeding capacity.

Purpose: The objective of this cross-sectional study was to identify predictors of severe OSA among patients on waiting lists for sleep studies, to better prioritize time to examinations.

Factors associated with coronary heart disease in COPD patients and controls.

Background: COPD and coronary heart disease (CHD) frequently co-occur, yet which COPD phenotypes are most prone to CHD is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to see whether COPD patients did have a true higher risk for CHD than subjects without COPD, and to examine a range of potential factors associated with CHD in COPD patients and controls.

Methods: 347 COPD patients and 428 non-COPD controls, were invited for coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and pulmonary CT.

Performance of Five Metagenomic Classifiers for Virus Pathogen Detection Using Respiratory Samples from a Clinical Cohort.

Viral metagenomics is increasingly applied in clinical diagnostic settings for detection of pathogenic viruses. While several benchmarking studies have been published on the use of metagenomic classifiers for abundance and diversity profiling of bacterial populations, studies on the comparative performance of the classifiers for virus pathogen detection are scarce. In this study, metagenomic data sets ( = 88) from a clinical cohort of patients with respiratory complaints were used for comparison of the performance of five taxonomic classifiers: Centrifuge, Clark, Kaiju, Kraken2, and Genome Detective.

The lower airways microbiome and antimicrobial peptides in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis differ from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: The lower airways microbiome and host immune response in chronic pulmonary diseases are incompletely understood. We aimed to investigate possible microbiome characteristics and key antimicrobial peptides and proteins in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods: 12 IPF patients, 12 COPD patients and 12 healthy controls were sampled with oral wash (OW), protected bronchoalveolar lavage (PBAL) and right lung protected sterile brushings (rPSB).

Repeated bronchoscopy in health and obstructive lung disease: is the airway microbiome stable?

Objective: Little is known concerning the stability of the lower airway microbiome. We have compared the microbiota identified by repeated bronchoscopy in healthy subjects and patients with ostructive lung diseaseases (OLD).

Methods: 21 healthy controls and 41 patients with OLD completed two bronchoscopies.

CT-defined emphysema in COPD patients and risk for change in desaturation status in 6-min walk test.

Background: Emphysema and exercise induced desaturation (EID) are both related to poorer COPD prognosis. More knowledge of associations between emphysema and desaturation is needed for more efficient disease management.

Research Question: Is emphysema a risk factor for both new and repeated desaturation, and is emphysema of more or less importance than other known risk factors?

Methods: 283 COPD patients completed a 6-min walk test (6MWT) at baseline and one year later in the Bergen COPD cohort study 2006-2011.

The pulmonary mycobiome-A study of subjects with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: The fungal part of the pulmonary microbiome (mycobiome) is understudied. We report the composition of the oral and pulmonary mycobiome in participants with COPD compared to controls in a large-scale single-centre bronchoscopy study (MicroCOPD).

Methods: Oral wash and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was collected from 93 participants with COPD and 100 controls.

Exploring protocol bias in airway microbiome studies: one versus two PCR steps and 16S rRNA gene region V3 V4 versus V4.

Background: Studies on the airway microbiome have been performed using a wide range of laboratory protocols for high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) gene. We sought to determine the impact of number of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) steps (1- or 2- steps) and choice of target marker gene region (V3 V4 and V4) on the presentation of the upper and lower airway microbiome. Our analyses included lllumina MiSeq sequencing following three setups: Setup 1 (2-step PCR; V3 V4 region), Setup 2 (2-step PCR; V4 region), Setup 3 (1-step PCR; V4 region).

One Year Change in 6-Minute Walk Test Outcomes is Associated with COPD Prognosis.

Six-minute walk test (6MWT) measures walking distance (6MWD) and desaturation status in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. This study aimed to examine whether change in 6MWD and desaturation in 1 year were risk factors for later mortality, lung function decline and number of exacerbations. A total of 295 COPD patients performed 6MWT at baseline and 1 year later in the Bergen COPD cohort study 2006-2011.

Coagulation markers as predictors for clinical events in COPD.

Background And Objective: Activation of the blood coagulation system is a common observation in inflammatory diseases. The role of coagulation in COPD is underexplored.

Methods: The study included 413 COPD patients and 49 controls from the 3-year Bergen COPD Cohort Study (BCCS).

The airway microbiota and exacerbations of COPD.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the compositionality of the lower airway microbiota predicts later exacerbation risk in persons with COPD in a cohort study.

Materials And Methods: We collected lower airways microbiota samples by bronchoalveolar lavage and protected specimen brushes, and oral wash samples from 122 participants with COPD. Bacterial DNA was extracted from all samples, before we sequenced the V3-V4 region of the 16S RNA gene.

ILD-specific health-related quality of life in systemic sclerosis-associated ILD compared with IPF.

Introduction: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) are fibrotic ILDs with divergent disease populations. Little is known about health-related quality of life (HRQL) in SSc-ILD relative to IPF.

Methods: We used the Kings Brief Interstitial Lung Disease Questionnaire (K-BILD) to compare HRQL in a cross-sectional study of 57 patients with IPF and 29 patients with SSc-ILD.

Complications and discomfort after research bronchoscopy in the MicroCOPD study.

Background: Data on discomfort and complications from research bronchoscopy in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma is limited. We present complications and discomfort occurring within a week after bronchoscopy, and investigate personal and procedural risk factors.

Methods: 239 subjects with COPD, asthma or without lung disease underwent research bronchoscopies as part of a microbiome study of the lower airways (the MicroCOPD study).

The respiratory virome and exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Introduction: Exacerbations are major contributors to morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and respiratory bacterial and viral infections are an important trigger. However, using conventional diagnostic techniques, a causative agent is not always found. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) allows analysis of the complete virome, but has not yet been applied in COPD exacerbations.

Sputum microbiota and inflammation at stable state and during exacerbations in a cohort of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.

Background: Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are debilitating events and spur disease progression. Infectious causes are frequent; however, it is unknown to what extent exacerbations are caused by larger shifts in the airways' microbiota. The aim of the current study was to analyse the changes in microbial composition between stable state and during exacerbations, and the corresponding immune response.