Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease upper airway microbiome is associated with select clinical characteristics.

Among the upper airway microbiota of COPD subjects, anatomic site was associated with bacterial biomass, Shannon diversity, and β-diversity. ICS use and edentulous state were both associated with β-diversity. Age was associated with taxa relative abundance in oral and sputum samples, while FEV1pp was associated with taxa relative abundance in sputum samples only.