Both COPD patients and mice showed altered gut microbiota with reduced diversity, and gut dysbiosis exacerbated COPD pathology while restoration of gut homeostasis via fecal microbiota transplantation attenuated these alterations, suggesting that maintaining gut homeostasis may represent a novel therapeutic strategy for COPD.
Both COPD patients and smoking-induced mouse models showed altered gut microbiota characterized by unique microbial composition and reduced diversity.
Antibiotic cocktail (ABX)-induced gut dysbiosis exacerbated pathological lung changes, impaired lung function, and promoted Treg cell exhaustion in COPD mice.
Restoration of gut homeostasis via fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) attenuated lung pathological changes, lung function impairment, and Treg cell exhaustion in COPD mice.
Higher plasma levels of acetylcholine (ACh) were observed in COPD mice, with the highest ACh levels found in ABX-treated COPD mice compared to controls.
Parasutterella was more abundant in COPD mice, while Candidatus Saccharimonas and Lactobacillus were predominant in control mice.
Metabolomic pathway analysis revealed enrichment in unsaturated fatty acids biosynthesis and purine metabolism in COPD mice relative to controls.
Differentially expressed genes in COPD mice were identified by RNA sequencing and functionally interpreted through gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA).
This research suggests that the bacteria living in the gut play an important role in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a serious lung condition. The researchers found that both COPD patients and mice with COPD had altered gut bacterial communities with less diversity than healthy individuals. When gut bacteria were deliberately disrupted using antibiotics in mice, lung damage got worse and the immune system was further compromised. Conversely, when gut bacteria were restored through fecal microbiota transplantation (a procedure that transfers healthy gut bacteria), lung damage was reduced and immune function improved, pointing to a direct connection between gut health and lung disease severity. The study also found that a chemical called acetylcholine was elevated in COPD mice, and was highest when gut bacteria were most disrupted. The levels of this chemical were linked to specific types of gut bacteria — some bacteria that were more common in COPD mice were associated with higher acetylcholine, while bacteria more common in healthy mice were associated with lower levels. Additionally, the researchers found that COPD mice had altered metabolic pathways related to fatty acid production and purine metabolism, further suggesting that gut microbiome changes influence the broader chemistry of the body in ways that could affect the lungs. This research suggests that the gut-lung connection — sometimes called the gut-lung axis — may be an important but underappreciated factor in COPD. Maintaining or restoring a healthy gut microbiome could potentially represent a new therapeutic strategy for COPD patients, though further research in humans would be needed to confirm these findings and develop practical treatments.
Li J, Zhang H, Zhang P, Hu J. (2026). Potential Benefits of Gut Microbiota Modulation in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.. International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. https://doi.org/10.2147/COPD.S594405