“At the Pediatric Research Center in the research group of Prof. Dr. Burkhard Tümmler, we investigate, among other things, the composition of the lung flora or the so-called airway metagenome in patients with chronic lung diseases. The airway metagenome describes the entirety of the genomic information of the microorganisms living in the lungs. To characterize this community of bacteria, viruses, and fungi directly from their natural environment, we developed a metagenome pipeline in collaboration with the Research Core Unit Genomics of the MHH. DNA is isolated from respiratory samples of patients, then sequenced and assigned to the corresponding microorganisms using high-performance computing.

Preterm infants, especially those with very low birth weight, require intensive medical care in the neonatal intensive care unit. Our study, in collaboration with MHH pediatrician Prof. Dorothee Viemann, is based on the analysis of longitudinally collected throat swabs from preterm infants born with a birth weight of less than 1,500 grams. Additionally, in another study, we analyzed the metagenome of throat swabs from children with cystic fibrosis and a control group of healthy children.

Our analysis showed that medical interventions such as antibiotic administration and ventilation influence the composition of microbes in preterm infants. The airway metagenome of preterm infants in the intensive care unit differed significantly in microbial diversity from what we observed after discharge from the hospital. The comparison with age-matched healthy children from the second study additionally revealed that almost two-year-old preterm infants still had an immature microbial composition.

Our two studies provide important insights into the development of microbial communities in the airways of healthy and preterm children, as well as children with cystic fibrosis. Both emphasize the important role of rare, less common microbes in maintaining a healthy airway metagenome. These findings may contribute to the development of more targeted measures to support microbial health.

As part of the new Disease Spanning Working Group (DSWG) Microbiome-Metagenome, we are making our metagenome analysis pipeline, including sample processing, sequencing, and bioinformatics evaluation, available to all DZL sites. This will enable us to describe the evolution and changes in the composition of the microbiome not only in various chronic lung diseases such as CF and asthma but also in the context of acute infections.”

Dr. Rosenboom completed her doctoral thesis in April this year and is now working as a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Dr. Burkhard Tümmler and Prof. Dr. Anna-Maria Dittrich at the Hannover Medical School at the DZL site BREATH. Her work will primarily focus on the newly established DSWG Microbiome-Metagenome within DZL 4.0, particularly the project “Triple A: Advancing Airway Microbiome Analyses within the DZL: Standardization, Education, and Cutting-Edge Trials on Microbiome Development in Early Childhood,” which was successful in the call for project proposals in the Disease Spanning Working Groups.

We are very pleased that Dr. Rosenboom is continuing her research at MHH and in the DZL after completing her PhD, and we look forward to her further contributions.

Text: Ilona Rosenboom / BREATH / AZ
Photo: Ben Kilb