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Research suggests link between hidradenitis suppurativa, dysbiotic cutaneous microbiome

Researchers found that the microbiome in hidradenitis suppurativa lesional and nonlesional skin differed significantly from the skin of healthy controls, suggesting a link between dysbiotic cutaneous microbiome and the skin disease, according to recently published study results in JAMA Dermatology.

Researchers in Denmark studied punch biopsy specimens from 30 patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS; mean age, 46.9 years; 63% female) and 24 healthy controls (mean age, 32.2 years; 54% female) from Oct. 1, 2014, to Aug. 1, 2016.  Data analysis was conducted between March and November 2016.

Study participants received no antibiotics for 1 month prior before the study. In patients with HS, the biopsy specimens were obtained from lesional and nonlesional skin.

“The next generation sequencing data provided a previously unreported (to our knowledge) characterization of the skin microbiome in HS,” the researchers wrote.

There was a significant difference in the microbiome between healthy controls and the HS lesional and nonlesional skin.

Corynebacterium species (type 1), Acinetobacter and Moraxella species (type II), Staphylococcus epidermidis (type III), Porphyromonas and Peptoniphilus species (type IV) and Propionibacterium acnes (type V) were microbiome types identified.

There was a predominance of type I or type IV in lesional skin. Healthy controls did not have microbiome type IV.

“Several taxa, including Propionibacterium, showed a significantly higher relative abundance in healthy controls vs. HS skin, indicating that Propionibacterium may be part of the pathogenesis in HS,” the researchers wrote.

 “The observation that the microbiome in HS lesional and nonlesional skin differs significantly from that in healthy controls supports the hypothesis of a link between a dysbiotic cutaneous microbiome and HS,” the researchers concluded. “More studies are warranted to definitively assign a causative role for the cutaneous microbiome in HS.” – by Bruce Thiel

Disclosure: Ring reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for the other researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.