Republished: Respiratory microbiota: addressing clinical questions, informing clinical practice. Issue 1078 (24th August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rogers, Geraint B; Shaw, Dominick; Marsh, Robyn L; Carroll, Mary P; Serisier, David J; Bruce, Kenneth D
• Is Part Of: Postgraduate medical journal. Volume 91:Issue 1078(2015)
• Page Start: 463
• Page End: 470
• Publication Date: 2015-08-24
• Subjects: Bacterial Infection; Medicine -- Periodicals; 610
• DOI: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2014-205826rep
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0032-5473

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Over the last decade, technological advances have revolutionised efforts to understand the role played by microbes in airways disease. With the application of ever more sophisticated techniques, the literature has become increasingly inaccessible to the non-specialist reader, potentially hampering the translation of these gains into improvements in patient care. In this article, we set out the key principles underpinning microbiota research in respiratory contexts and provide practical guidance on how best such studies can be designed, executed and interpreted. We examine how an understanding of the respiratory microbiota both challenges fundamental assumptions and provides novel clinical insights into lung disease, and we set out a number of important targets for ongoing research.