The document discusses the lung microbiome and remaining challenges in the field. It notes that culture-independent techniques have improved understanding of microbes living in contact with the body. The lung was found to not be sterile as previously believed. Understanding the lung microbiome's relationship with respiratory surfaces is a promising area. However, standardizing sampling and analyzing the microbiome present additional complexity. Several challenges remain such as harmonizing genomic methods, characterizing the microbiome's functions, and improving epidemiological studies with longitudinal patient data. Addressing these challenges will provide insights into how the lung microbiome impacts disease pathogenesis and can be managed.

1. Closing remarks

2. • Culture-independent microbiologial techniques has enabled a
tremendous growth in understanding how large amounts of
microbiological organisms coexist in intimate contact with the
different body surfaces, both in health and disease.
• The lung is not an exception and this fact has challenged the previous
belief that the healthy lung was sterile.
• Understanding the nature of the relationship between the lung
microbiome and the respiratory epithelial surfaces appears as one of
the more promising research fields in respiratory medicine.
Closing remarks

3. • A large body of evidence supports the concept that dysregulation of
host-microbiota crosstalk at body surfaces may underlie chronic
inflammatory disorders.
• There is a growing interest to determine the potential value of the
airway microbiome composition as a prognostic marker, or even as an
indicator for monitoring airway disease progression that eventually
could prompt specific therapeutic interventions.
• Nevertheless, the study of the respiratory microbiome appears to
have additional complexity !!!
Closing remarks

4. • Several challenges need to be addressed such as:
• Harmonization of genomic and bioinformatic procedures
• Standardization of airway sampling and processing
• Functional characterization of the respiratory microbiome using
proteomic, transcriptomic, metabolomic and animal models
• The connection with the other human microbiomes
• Improved epidemiological and clinical databases
• Large series of patients with a longitudinal follow up
• The understanding of the broader interactions of the microbiome
components, how they impact the lung disease pathogenesis and the
way how they can be managed is no doubt the new frontier in
respiratory medicine !!!
Closing remarks: present challenges

5. Thank you very much!