Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
Center for Environment and Health, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2024 Nov 13;26(11):2020-2035. doi: 10.1039/d4em00392f.
Microorganisms constitute an essential component of the indoor ecosystem and may pose potential health risks after inhalation. However, evidence regarding the impact of indoor airborne microbiome on general respiratory health is scarce. Additionally, while air purification has been shown to be an effective strategy for controlling culturable bioaerosols, its impact on indoor airborne microbiome remains unclear. To determine the impact of indoor airborne microbial exposure on lung function, and whether and how air purification can modify indoor airborne microbiome, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, crossover study employing air purification intervention among 68 healthy young adults in Beijing, China. Indoor airborne bacteria and fungi were characterized using amplicon sequencing technology and quantified by qPCR. Our results indicated positive associations between indoor airborne microbial α-diversity and lung function indices; however, adverse effects from total microbial load were observed. Males were more susceptible to microbial exposure than females. Beneficial effects from richness in Actinobacteria, Bacteroidia, Oxyphotobacteria, Bacilli, Clostridia, Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Dothideomycetes, and Sordariomycetes, and detrimental effects from five Proteobacteria genera, including , , , , and , were also identified. Air purification contributed to decreased fungal diversity and total fungal load, but not the overall microbial community structure. Our study demonstrates the significant role of indoor airborne microbiome in regulating human respiratory health and provides inspiration for improving health through manipulation of indoor microbiome. Meanwhile, our study also underscores the importance of balancing the potential benefits from decreased microbial load and the underlying risks from reduced microbial diversity while applying environmental microbial interventions.
微生物是室内生态系统的重要组成部分，吸入后可能会对健康造成潜在威胁。然而，关于室内空气微生物组对一般呼吸健康的影响的证据还很有限。此外，虽然空气净化已被证明是控制可培养生物气溶胶的有效策略，但它对室内空气微生物组的影响仍不清楚。为了确定室内空气微生物暴露对肺功能的影响，以及空气净化是否以及如何改变室内空气微生物组，我们在中国北京对 68 名健康的年轻成年人进行了一项随机、双盲、交叉研究，采用空气净化干预措施。使用扩增子测序技术对室内空气细菌和真菌进行了特征描述，并通过 qPCR 进行了定量。我们的结果表明，室内空气微生物 α 多样性与肺功能指标呈正相关；然而，总微生物负荷也存在不良影响。男性比女性更容易受到微生物暴露的影响。放线菌门、拟杆菌门、光养菌门、芽孢杆菌门、梭菌门、变形菌门、厚壁菌门、子囊菌门和担子菌门的丰富度与肺功能呈正相关，而 5 个变形菌门属，包括 、 、 、 、 与肺功能呈负相关。空气净化有助于降低真菌多样性和总真菌负荷，但对整体微生物群落结构没有影响。本研究表明室内空气微生物组在调节人类呼吸健康方面具有重要作用，并为通过操纵室内微生物组来改善健康提供了启示。同时，我们的研究也强调了在应用环境微生物干预措施时，平衡降低微生物负荷的潜在益处和降低微生物多样性的潜在风险的重要性。
