Skip to main content
. 2018 Jun 28;91(2):143–149.

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Pulmonary microbiome in health and critical illness. In healthy individuals, lungs and gut harbor markedly different microbiomes. Composition of lung microbiome closely resembles the one of oropharynx. In critically ill patients with sepsis, severe trauma, or ARDS, lung microbiome might become enriched with gut-associated microbes. Potential pathogens can enter lung via aspiration and possibly translocation from the gut. The resulting state of dysbiosis promotes inflammation and acute lung injury.