Bacterial and fungal communities and network dynamics in Otitis media patients upon 1,8-Cineol treatment

The present study investigated the bacterial and fungal communities and cross-domain network interactions in patients with chronic Otitis media in response to the natural monoterpene medicinal 1,8-Cineol as a promising treatment option. While the bacterial community showed modest changes with preserved core genera, the fungal community underwent dramatic diversification and network expansion. This suggests that treatment may have disrupted competitive exclusion mechanisms in the latter, allowing for increased diversity and interactions, despite no significant changes in traditional diversity metrics. Investigations on the microbial community compositions in Otitis media patients upon 1,8-Cineol treatment revealed significantly different initial microbial signatures in responders and non-responders. Notably, therapy-responding COM patients demonstrated a baseline situation with significantly higher abundances of different gram-negative Pseudomonas species. In contrast, significantly elevated levels of various gram-positive Corynebacterium species were observed in the non-responder group compared to the 1,8-Cineol responding patients. These keystone taxa may represent new targets for therapeutic intervention or biomarkers for treatment response.