Fig. 1: Variation in lung bacterial community composition is associated with specific measures of lung function and symptoms.
From: Lung microbiota associations with clinical features of COPD in the SPIROMICS cohort
a Principal component analysis (PCA) of the overall variation in BAL bacterial composition and relationships to the associated clinical measures for the entire cohort (N = 181). Contrasting relationships exist between lung microbiota and measures of airflow limitation (FEF25–75 and peak expiratory flow rate, PEFR) compared to that for measures of bronchodilator response and symptoms (COPD Assessment Test, CAT). PCA based on Hellinger transformation of OTU abundance counts. Vectors indicate direction and magnitude of the linear relationship between a clinical variable and the gradient of bacterial composition shown by PCA (R function envfit). b, c Correlations between within-sample bacterial diversity (inverse Simpson index) to FVC bronchodilator response and FEF25–75 (Spearman r = −0.26, p = 0.005 and r = 0.17, p = 0.02, respectively).
