Characterising the Microbiota in Asthma

Previous work has determined that there are significant differences in the communities of bacteria found in the airways of asthmatic patients compared to those found in the airways of healthy people. It is not yet clear if these bacterial communities are similar in all patients with asthma or if they are different in people with more severe asthma, with different types of asthma or between asthma patients taking different treatment. This is important to know as any differences in the bacteria present between groups may help to explain why people with asthma do not have the same features of disease. This research aims to determine if there are any differences in the number and type of bacteria found in the airways of asthmatic patients (1) with different severities of asthma and (2) who use different types of inhaled steroid treatment for asthma. We will do this by detecting the DNA of bacteria present in phlegm samples from these patients. We will also take measurements of the different components of asthma to see if the bacteria are different in people with different types of disease. As it is not yet clear if the bacteria detected in phlegm samples from one person may differ on different occasions, we will be taking more than one sample from some patients to see how similar this is over time.