Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) affects around 1.8 million Australians. Defined as the inflammation of the paranasal sinuses for a period of greater than 12 weeks, CRS can result in great discomfort for suffers. Multiple hypotheses exist in the literature in an attempt to explain various roles factors play in the development of CRS; however, the pathogenesis of the problem remains unclear.
To investigate the microbial communities in CRS patients, a study into the abundance of bacterial and viral populations was conducted. The maximum abundances were high, with approximately 108 and 1010 bacteria and viruses/ml. However, large variation was observed among patients, with bacterial counts ranging from 4.3x104, ± SD of 6.6x103,to 1x108, ± 5.4x106, bacteria/ml. Viral abundances were dominant for most patient samples with numbers varying from 2.3x106, ± 7.3x105, to 2.0x1010, ± 5.2x109, viruses/ml.
To understand the variation observed we investigated environmental and health factors that could contribute to observed abundances. CLUSTER profiles of patients’ bacterial and viral abundances showed that patients with the highest populations of bacteria were on nasal decongestants and patients with medium levels of viruses had allergy related sinusitis.
This study is the first to enumerate bacterial with viral populations in the maxillary sinus of CRS patients. This correlative work has opened up the potential for other studies, which will develop a better understanding of the communities involved in CRS. With current treatments for CRS proving to be relatively unsuccessful and at times invasive, there is the need to develop alternative therapies. It is only through understanding of the microbial communities involved in CRS that treatments can be developed.