The respiratory tract is home to a diverse microbial community whose influence on local and systemic immune responses is only beginning to be appreciated. Increasing reports have linked changes in this microbiome to a range of pulmonary and extrapulmonary disorders, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Central to many of these findings is the role of IL-17-type immunity as an important driver of inflammation. Despite the crucial role played by IL-17-mediated immune responses in protection against infection, overt Th17 cell responses have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several chronic inflammatory diseases. However, our knowledge of the influence of bacteria that commonly colonise the respiratory tract on IL-17-driven inflammatory responses remains sparse. In this article, we review the current knowledge on the role of specific members of the airway microbiota in the modulation of IL-17-type immunity and discuss how this line of research may support the testing of susceptible individuals and targeting of inflammation at its earliest stages in the hope of preventing the development of chronic disease.

呼吸道是多种微生物群落的家园，它们对局部和全身免疫反应的影响才刚刚开始受到重视。越来越多的报道将这种微生物组的变化与一系列肺部和肺部疾病联系起来，包括哮喘、慢性阻塞性肺病和类风湿性关节炎。许多这些发现的核心是 IL-17 型免疫作为炎症重要驱动因素的作用。尽管 IL-17 介导的免疫反应在防止感染方面发挥了关键作用，但明显的 Th17 细胞反应与几种慢性炎症性疾病的发病机制有关。然而，我们对通常在呼吸道定殖的细菌对 IL-17 驱动的炎症反应的影响的了解仍然很少。在本文中，