Microbiota profiling of tonsil and adenoid tissues in children with sleep apnea using 16S rRNA sequencing

LIU Liyang; SONG Xiaorui; SENG Dongjie; DUAN Qingchuan; ZHANG Jie; SU Yu; XU Ying

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1007-8134.2025.02.011

Abstract：Objective To investigate the flora composition of tonsils and adenoids associated with obstructive sleep apnea in children.Methods Fifteen children diagnosed with sleep apnea monitoring and treated with tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy were included in this study.Among these,8 patients with isolated tonsillar hypertrophy were assigned to the non-inflammatory group,while 7 patients with a history of recurrent tonsillar inflammation were allocated to the inflammatory group.Preoperative adenoidal nasopharyngeal swabs,proximal pharyngeal swabs and bilateral tonsillar surface swabs were collected,bilateral tonsillar tissue and core tissue specimens were collected after surgical resection,and the bacterial composition of each specimen was analyzed by 16S ribosomal RNA-encoding gene sequencing technology.Results The bacterial diversity and community composition of adenoids were basically the same at different sampling sites.There were significant differences in the composition of microbial communities and the abundance indexes of Ace and Chao1 between the tonsil surface swabs and the core tissues(P＜0.05).There were also significant differences in the relative abundance of Prevonella,Fusobacterium,Veronella,Streptococcus,and Neisseria between the inflammatory and non-inflammatory groups(P＜0.05).Conclusion The colony characteristics of the adenoid surface swabs can be used to assess overall adenoid microbial composition;There are differences in bacterial diversity and composition in the tonsils,indicating that OSA in children may be the result of multiple commensal or pathogenic bacteria and their associated immune responses,rather than being attributable to individual bacteria present on the tissue or surface.