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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Infectious Agents and Disease
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1441476
This article is part of the Research Topic Herpesvirus: Transmission, Pathogenesis, Host-Pathogen Interaction, Prevention and Treatment View all articles

Active herpesviruses are associated with intensive care unit (ICU) admission in patients pulmonary infection and alters the respiratory microbiomeReactivation of herpesviruses promotes the disease progression and alters the respiratory microbiome in patients with pulmonary infection

Provisionally accepted
Zhiguang Liu Zhiguang Liu 1Chun-jian Qi Chun-jian Qi 1Yujia Shi Yujia Shi 1Tianyu Li Tianyu Li 2Yuan Fang Yuan Fang 2Qian Zhang Qian Zhang 1,3*
  • 1 The Affiliated Changzhou Second People’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, China
  • 2 Genoxor Medical Science and Technology Inc., Shanghai, China, Shanghai, China
  • 3 Changzhou Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The Herpesviridae family contains several human-related viruses, which are able to establish colonizing and latency in the human body, posing a significant threat to the prognosis of patients. Pulmonary infections represent one of the predominant infectious diseases globally, characterized by diverse and multifaceted clinical manifestations that have consistently attracted clinician's concern. However, the relationshipimpact of herpesviruses on the prognosis of individuals with pulmonary infections and the respiratory microbiota remains poorly understood.Methods: Here, we retrospectively analyzed respiratory samples from 100 patients with pulmonary infection detected by metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS).Results: Employing mNGS, sixfive herpesvirus species were detected: Human alphaherpesvirus 1 (HSV-1), Human gammaherpesvirus 4 (EBV), Human betaherpesvirus 5 (CMV), Human betaherpesvirus 7 (HHV-7), and Human betaherpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B). These viruses exhibited high detection frequency in ICU patients and were significantly associated with patients' ICU admission rates and total hospital stays. Regression analysis showed that the age and positivity of herpesviruses in patients were independently correlated with ICU admission rates. In addition, positivity of herpesvirus was related with increased ICU days and total hospital stay. Moreover, tThe herpesvirus-positive group demonstrated markedly higher incidences of co-infections and fungipositivefungal detections, predominantly involving Pneumocystis jirovecii and Aspergillus fumigatus. Analysis of respiratory microbiota revealed a substantially altered community composition within the herpesvirus-positive group, and herpesviruses were significantly positively correlated with the diverse respiratory opportunistic pathogens.Overall results substantiate that the active herpesvirusesreactivation of herpesviruses in patients with pulmonary infections was were significantly associated with high ICU admission ratepoor prognosis. Moreover, the herpesviruses promotes the dysbiosis of the respiratory microbiota and an increased proportion of co-infections may be pivotal factors contributing to this phenomenon. These insights could contribute to unraveling the underlying mechanisms connecting active herpesvirusesherpesviruses reactivation to the progression of severe illnesses.

    Keywords: pulmonary infection, ICU patients, herpesviruses, Metagenome, Respiratory microbiome

    Received: 03 Jun 2024; Accepted: 08 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Liu, Qi, Shi, Li, Fang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Qian Zhang, The Affiliated Changzhou Second People’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, China

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