Respiratory microbiome and clinical course of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii pneumonia in critically Ill patients

Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) pneumonia has been a serious problem in the intensive care unit (ICU). However, defined characteristics of respiratory microbiome in CRAB pneumonia are lacking nowadays. This study aimed to analyze respiratory microbiome of CRAB pneumonia compared to non-CRAB pneumonia and reveal the clinical significance of respiratory microbiome data in these patients. Patients diagnosed with severe pneumonia with mechanical ventilation were enrolled in the ICU of a tertiary care hospital. Respiratory specimens were collected on days 1, 4, 7, and 14 in each participant via tracheal aspiration. Clinical data and outcomes of each enrolled patient were collected via electronic medical records. Microbiome analysis was conducted with collected respiratory specimens undergone by next-generation sequencing of microbial 16S ribosomal DNA. Six CRAB pneumonia, 4 non-CRAB pneumonia and 5 healthy controls were enrolled. In CRAB pneumonia, CRAB was detected in 3 patients by sputum culture at day 1, while it was negative at day 1 and detected later in the others by follow-up sputum culture. Beta diversity plot analysis showed differences between each group. Shannon index was decreased markedly at day 4 in CRAB pneumonia compared to the others. Among CRAB pneumonia cases, 3 respiratory specimens were culture-negative, but positive by microbiome analysis. Lower respiratory microbiome in CRAB pneumonia had distinct characteristics and early loss of diversity compared to non-CRAB pneumonia, which might be related to poor clinical course. Moreover, CRAB acquisition and colonization would be predicted by preemptive microbiome analysis, which will contribute to effective infection control in the ICU.