2025 Henri Boulard Award Winner S. Adesida

Our project, titled “Community Profiling of the Lung Microbiome and Its Role in Disease Modification among Tuberculosis Patients in Lagos, Nigeria” examines the relationship between lung microbial communities and tuberculosis (TB) disease outcomes. Tuberculosis is a chronic, highly contagious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, primarily affecting the lungs but capable of involving other organs. Despite global control efforts, TB remains a leading cause of infectious disease–related morbidity and mortality worldwide.

Growing evidence indicates that the human microbiota plays an important role in disease progression through interactions with the host immune system and metabolic pathways. Although research on the lung microbiome is less extensive than studies of other body sites such as the gut, current findings suggest that it represents a dynamic ecosystem with the potential to influence TB infection and treatment outcomes. Host factors including nutrition, immune status, and genetic background contribute to susceptibility to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Increasingly, imbalances in the respiratory microbiome (dysbiosis) are recognized as contributors to disease severity, altered immune responses, and reduced drug efficacy.

The central aim of this project is to characterize changes in the respiratory microbiome during tuberculosis development, evaluate its role in TB pathogenesis, and assess the impact of anti-tuberculosis treatment on lung microbiome composition and diversity among patients in Lagos, Nigeria.

3 Questions to Solayide Adesida

What is the relationship between your project and Microbiota?

The human respiratory tract hosts a complex microbiome that maintains lung health by regulating epithelial cell growth, producing antimicrobial peptides, and controlling microbial balance. Dysbiosis of this microbiota may influence susceptibility to M. tuberculosis, progression from latent to active TB, and response to anti-TB therapy. However, its role in TB pathophysiology and treatment outcomes remains poorly understood. This project investigates how lung microbiome imbalance worsens TB pathology and how prolonged anti-TB treatment disrupts microbial communities. In Lagos, Nigeria, a high TB-burden region, understanding these effects can guide strategies to preserve microbiota balance, reduce complications and drug resistance, and improve patient outcomes.

How your project can evaluate the lung microbiome’s role in disease modification of tuberculosis patients in Nigeria?

Longitudinal sampling and advanced sequencing techniques will allow assessment of how anti-TB therapy alters microbial composition and function, providing insights into how the lung microbiome contributes to disease modification and patient response in the Nigerian context. By analyzing how variations in the lung microbiome correlate with disease severity, immune response, and treatment outcomes, the study can identify microbial patterns that influence progression or recovery. Sputum samples from participants classified as active TB, latent TB, or apparently healthy controls will be diagnosed using various diagnostic and molecular techniques including shotgun metagenomic sequencing to characterize the microbial composition and diversity. Bioinformatics analyses will assess how microbial changes correlate with disease severity, immune response, and treatment outcomes. By comparing microbiome patterns across patient groups, the study will reveal how alterations in the lung microbiome influence TB progression and therapeutic response, providing actionable insights for patient management in Nigeria.

How the Henri Boulard Award will help your team to perform your project?

The Henri Boulard Award would enable our team to conduct a rigorous study of the lung microbiome in tuberculosis patients by supporting essential resources for sample collection, sequencing, and bioinformatics analysis. It would also strengthen local laboratory infrastructure and provide targeted training for personnel, ensuring high-quality, reproducible data. By allowing us to map microbial patterns that influence TB progression and treatment response, the award would generate actionable insights to improve patient care and advance understanding of TB in Nigeria, accelerating the project’s scientific and public health impact.