Indoor Microbiome Influences on Respiratory Health

Indoor environments harbour complex microbial communities whose composition and function exert profound effects on respiratory wellbeing. Settled dust and airborne particles carry bacteria, fungi, viruses and their molecular components (for example endotoxins and mycotoxins), all of which interact with the mucosal immune system. Diverse exposures in early life can promote immunoregulatory pathways and reduce the risk of atopic sensitisation, whereas high microbial loads or dominance of particular taxa may exacerbate airway inflammation and drive conditions such as asthma and allergic rhinitis. Building characteristics (ventilation, flooring, humidity), occupant density and geographic factors shape indoor microbiota, while microbial metabolites—including short-chain fatty acids—modulate host inflammatory responses. Advances in high-throughput sequencing and metagenomic analyses now enable detailed profiling of species-level diversity and functional potential, opening avenues for interventions in building design, cleaning regimes and occupant behaviour to mitigate respiratory disease worldwide.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have harnessed shotgun metagenomics to reveal how domestic dust microbiomes correlate with asthma prevalence across regions. A comparative analysis of homes on either side of an international border demonstrated that differences in housing structure, water supply and flooring are linked to distinct bacterial assemblages and predicted metabolic pathways in floor dust, which in turn align with region-specific asthma rates. Such work highlights that environmental and structural determinants of indoor microbiomes may partly explain disparities in respiratory health. Foundational research has further shown that early-life microbial richness in home dust influences the balance between immune tolerance and inflammatory responses, suggesting critical windows for microbial modulation.

Indoor Microbiome Influences on Respiratory Health publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in indoor microbiome influences on respiratory health across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Microbiome: The community of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi and viruses, inhabiting a particular environment.

Shotgun metagenomics: A sequencing approach analysing all genetic material in an environmental sample to identify both taxonomic composition and functional gene content.

Alpha diversity: A measure of species richness and evenness within a single sample, reflecting its ecological complexity.

Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO): A non-invasive biomarker of airway inflammation, commonly elevated in asthmatic individuals.

References

1. Fungi and bacteria in the beds of rural and urban infants correlate with later risk of atopic diseases. Clinical & Experimental Allergy (2023).
2. Enrichment of human nasopharyngeal bacteriome with bacteria from dust after short-term exposure to indoor environment: a pilot study. BMC Microbiology (2023).
3. Environmental and structural factors associated with bacterial diversity in household dust across the Arizona-Sonora border. Scientific Reports (2024).
4. Fungi composition in settled dust associated with fractional exhaled nitric oxide in school children with asthma. The Science of The Total Environment (2022).
5. Urban Dust Microbiome: Impact on Later Atopy and Wheezing. Environmental Health Perspectives (2016).