Gut microbiome profile in psoriatic patients treated and untreated with biologic therapy

Abstract

There are increasing data about the role of the gut microbiome in various autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory and immune-mediated disease. Current treatment strategies in psoriasis include immunomodulating biologic agents. A variable response to this type of therapy has been reported in psoriatic patients. A possible effect of biologic therapy on the gut microbiome composition has been suggested, but data are still limited. The aim of this study was to compare the gut microbiome composition between psoriatic patients treated and untreated with biologic drugs in order to identify differences which may highlight the potential impact of the treatment on the gut microbiome. 16S rRNA sequencing and bioinformatic analyses were performed on the fecal samples of 30 psoriatic patients with similar clinicopathological features, 10 of whom were undergoing biologic therapy and 20 not receiving systemic therapy. Alpha and beta diversity significantly differed between the two groups of patients. A reduced bacterial biodiversity in the group of treated patients compared with the group of untreated patients was observed. Differential relative abundances of key gut microbial communities, including Akkermansia muciniphila and Bacteroides plebeius, were identified between the two groups of patients. This study showed that biologic therapy may have an impact on the composition of the gut microbiome of psoriatic patients. Gut microbiome composition could be used as an indicator of response to therapy and the modulation of the microbial composition could help to restore the intestinal symbiosis in psoriatic patients.

Involvement of Gut Microbiota in the Development of Psoriasis Vulgaris

“…It has shown that acitretin inhibits the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in vitro ( 47 ), which was not a common bacterium in the human intestine. Biological agents were not used in the current study due to their known impact on the composition of the gut microbiome ( 48 , 49 ). Thus, mechanistic studies with a larger sample size are needed to further explore whether acitretin has an impact on microbes.…”

Gut Microbiota in Psoriasis

“…At the species level, treated subjects had significantly higher abundances of Bacteroides plebeius , Roseburia faecis , and Bifidobacterium adolescentis , and significantly lower abundances of Bacteroides caccae , eggerthii and coprophilus , Blautia obeum , Alistipes indistinctus and massiliensis , Ruminococcus lactaris , Haemophilus parainfluenzae . The species Akkermansia muciniphila showed the highest variation in relative abundance between treated and untreated individuals [ 63 ].…”

Proton pump inhibitors induce changes in the gut microbiome composition of systemic lupus erythematosus patients

“…Various therapeutic agents have been used to achieve SLE remission, such as antimalarial agents, glucocorticoids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), immunosuppressive agents, and B cell-targeting biological agents [ 8 ]. These drugs have been found to significantly alter structure of gut microbiota [ 7 , 9 , 10 ]. Glucocorticoids may reduce the expression of inflammatory cytokines by adjusting the structure of gut microbiota in SLE patients [ 7 ].…”