Fan Yue, Chen Junru, Xu Shenglong, Zhou Hailu, Shang Yingying, Tian Xu, Wang Bin, Zhao Yang, Shan Guangliang, Zhao Yan, Zhang Peng, Chen Xingming
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, Macao, China.
Commun Med (Lond). 2025 May 3;5(1):150. doi: 10.1038/s43856-025-00876-w.
Currently, the mechanisms by which otitis media with effusion (OME) progresses to intractable OME is unclear. Since crosstalk between microbiome and host contributes to many diseases, we hypothesized that similar interactions could occur in the middle ear effusion (MEE) samples from patients with OME and influence intractable OME pathogenesis. This study aimed to evaluate the microbial profile of MEE samples and to determine whether there were microbial differences between the MEE microbiota of patients with intractable OME and those with rapidly cured OME.
MEE samples were collected from 46 OME patients, including 20 from the long course group and 26 from the short course group. Metagenomic sequencing was performed on 30 of these samples, allowing the identification of microbial differences associated with varying disease durations. The difference was verified by further experimental validation, including fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR).
The alpha diversity indices and overall MEE microbial structure show no significant difference between the long course and short course groups, but species such as Bacillus cereus, Nocardiopsis dassonvillei, and Rothia aeria are significantly more prevalent in the MEE of long course OME patients. qPCR analyses and FISH also confirm the difference in the abundance of Bacillus cereus between the two groups.
Bacillus cereus plays a role in the persistence of OME infection and serves as a potential biomarker to predict OME prognosis. Further studies are warranted to explore the value of Bacillus cereus detection in informing early intervention.
目前，分泌性中耳炎（OME）进展为难治性OME的机制尚不清楚。由于微生物群与宿主之间的相互作用导致了许多疾病，我们推测在OME患者的中耳积液（MEE）样本中可能发生类似的相互作用，并影响难治性OME的发病机制。本研究旨在评估MEE样本的微生物特征，并确定难治性OME患者与快速治愈的OME患者的MEE微生物群之间是否存在差异。
收集了46例OME患者的MEE样本，其中20例来自病程较长组，26例来自病程较短组。对其中30个样本进行宏基因组测序，以确定与不同病程相关的微生物差异。通过进一步的实验验证，包括荧光原位杂交（FISH）和定量聚合酶链反应（qPCR），对差异进行了验证。
病程较长组和病程较短组的α多样性指数和总体MEE微生物结构无显著差异，但蜡样芽孢杆菌、达松维尔诺卡氏菌和航空罗氏菌等物种在病程较长的OME患者的MEE中更为普遍。qPCR分析和FISH也证实了两组之间蜡样芽孢杆菌丰度的差异。
蜡样芽孢杆菌在OME感染的持续存在中起作用，并作为预测OME预后的潜在生物标志物。有必要进一步研究探索检测蜡样芽孢杆菌在指导早期干预方面的价值。
