Analysis of the Dynamics of the Lung Microbiota During Acute Exacerbation of COPD Requiring Admission to Intensive Care Unit

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a frequent cause of ICU admission. COPD exacerbations are a leading cause of lung function worsening and of morbimortality. Hospitalizations due to COPD exacerbations are highly expensive for health insurance system. Bacterial pulmonary microbiota has been shown to be correlated to the severity of COPD and to exacerbations. Nevertheless fungi and viruses which are full actors of pulmonary microbiota have not yet been investigated. Our primary outcome will be the assessment of alpha and beta diversity dynamics of the whole pulmonary microbiota (bacteria, fungi and viruses) between COPD exacerbation and steady state. This study will prospectively include 24 patients at ICU admission for COPD exacerbation with sputum sampling. Steady-state as defined during a 2 months-later visit will be studied with another sputum collection.