I came across this research paper recently:
Maltz MR, Topacio TM, Lo DD, Zaza M, Freund L, Botthoff J, Swenson M, Cocker D, Biddle T, Yisrael K, del Castillo D, Drover RW, Aronson E.0. Lung microbiomes’ variable responses to dust exposure in mouse models of asthma. mSphere0:e00209-25. https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00209-25
Of course, microbial ecology extends far beyond the digestive tract. Researchers have identified distinct microbial communities throughout the human body (collectively known as the human microbiome). These include the oral microbiome, skin microbiome, respiratory microbiome, urogenital microbiome, and reproductive microbiomes, among others.
It’s not common, however, to hear the lung microbiome spoken about. This was an animal study done on mice so we can’t go extrapolating the findings too quickly to humans, but it was concerning how quickly the inhalation of the dust from this area resulted in alterations in the microbiome and an immune responses.
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