Unexplored diversity and strain-level structure of the skin microbiome associated with psoriasis

Abstract

Psoriasis is an immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease that has been associated with cutaneous microbial dysbiosis by culture-dependent investigations and rRNA community profiling. We applied, for the first time, high-resolution shotgun metagenomics to characterise the microbiome of psoriatic and unaffected skin from 28 individuals. We demonstrate psoriatic ear sites have a decreased diversity and psoriasis is associated with an increase in Staphylococcus, but overall the microbiomes of psoriatic and unaffected sites display few discriminative features at the species level. Finer strain-level analysis reveals strain heterogeneity colonisation and functional variability providing the intriguing hypothesis of psoriatic niche-specific strain adaptation or selection. Furthermore, we accessed the poorly characterised, but abundant, clades with limited sequence information in public databases, including uncharacterised Malassezia spp. These results highlight the skins hidden diversity and suggests strain-level variations could be key determinants of the psoriatic microbiome. This illustrates the need for high-resolution analyses, particularly when identifying therapeutic targets. This work provides a baseline for microbiome studies in relation to the pathogenesis of psoriasis.

A systematic literature review of the human skin microbiome as biomarker for dermatological drug development

“…32. Similar inconsistencies in findings were also observed in those studies assessing the microbiota 28, 29, 30, 31, 34.…”

“…In 10 studies, the cutaneous microbiome in PV patients was investigated, Table 1 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34. In addition to microbiota, these studies have focused on the mycobiota.…”

In Vivo Biofilm Formation, Gram‐Negative Infections and TAS2R38 Polymorphisms in CRSw NP Patients

“…Under this point of view, polymicrobial biofilms in which the absolute quantity of each species is low may be balanced and compatible with the healthy state; instead, biofilms with lower microbial diversity may be related to chronic inflammation. The concept of microbial dysbiosis has been implicated in the development of various human diseases …”

“…The concept of microbial dysbiosis has been implicated in the development of various human diseases. 41,42 Conversely, the immune barrier hypothesis suggests that defects in the physical barrier, opposed at the mucosal interface against foreign pathogens or in the humoral immune response, might account for the susceptibility to CRS.…”

Gut microbiota dysbiosis in a cohort of patients with psoriasis

“…19,20 The aetiology of psoriasis remains elusive but for decades it has been a wellknown fact that there is a relationship between streptococcal pharyngitis and a particular clinical form of psoriasis, so-called guttate psoriasis. 21 Recently, several studies have been conducted that focus on skin microbiome alterations and their connection with psoriasis [22][23][24][25][26][27] and atopic dermatitis, 28 although less attention has been focused on the potential role of gut microbiota dysbiosis in the pathogenesis of the disease. 29 Our hypothesis is that the intestinal microbiota dysbiosis may play a key role in the development of psoriatic disease due to an aberrant inflammatory response that can be connected with the skin.…”