BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Plenary Lecture 11: The good the bad and the irrelevant. Sequentia
 l analyses of the sputum microbiome in patients with Chronic Obstructive P
 ulmonary Disease - Barer\, M (University of Leicester)
DTSTART:20141127T143500Z
DTEND:20141127T151000Z
UID:TALK56385@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Mustapha Amrani
DESCRIPTION:Co-authors: Koirobi Haldar (University of Leiceister)\, Mona B
 afadhel (University of Oxford)\, Chris Brightling (University of Leiceiste
 r) \n\nCOPD is a chronic respiratory disease associated with progressive d
 eterioration of lung function and eventually death from respiratory failur
 e\; chronic exposure to smoke is the major aetiological risk factor and th
 e disease is a major WHO priority. COPD patients have excess production of
  mucus in their lower airways and this is coughed up as sputum which suppo
 rts an abundant and diverse microbiome. The course of the disease is chara
 cterised by exacerbations in which cough and sputum production increase an
 d lung function worsens. The causes of COPD exacerbations are hotly debate
 d and are likely to be multiple. The view that infections\, attributable t
 o one or more microbial pathogen\, are the primary cause of exacerbations 
 is widely accepted by physicians and sanctioned by the almost universal us
 e of antibiotics. However\, rigorous evidence in support of this view is l
 acking. We have conducted the first sequential study of the sputum microbi
 ome in COPD patients with samples taken when stable\, at the time of exace
 rbation (prior to antibiotics) then 2 and six weeks later\, when all had r
 ecovered from the episode. Microbiome profiling was based on Roche 454 seq
 uencing of 16S-rDNA amplicons. With the exception of a small group of viru
 s positive exacerbations the events could not be explained by the arrival 
 or increased abundance of recognised pathogens. Microbiome analyses reveal
 ed a high frequency of 20 different phyla in most samples but consistent d
 ominance of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. No clear pattern with respect t
 o composition or diversity of the microbiome was associated with exacerbat
 ions. However\, cluster analysis revealed a subgroup of exacerbations in w
 hich disturbance of the ratio between Proteobacteria and Firmicutes occurr
 ed and subsequently returned to the stable value following therapy. We pro
 pose that this subgroup may be patients who need antibiotics while they ar
 e unnecessary or even harmful for patients whose microbiomes did not show 
 this pattern. \n
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Newton Institute
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR