Comparison of bacterial microbiota in skin biopsies from normal and psoriatic skin (original) (raw)

Abstract

Microorganisms have been implicated in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Previous studies of psoriasis and normal skin have used swabs from the surface rather than skin biopsies. In this study, biopsies were taken from 10 patients with psoriasis and 12 control subjects from unmatched sites. Samples were analysed with massive parallel pyrosequencing on the 454 platform targeting the 16S rRNA gene and the variable regions V3–V4. The samples grouped into 19 phyla, 265 taxon and 652 operational units (OTUs) at 97% identity. A cut-off abundance level was set at 1%. The three most common phyla in both normal and psoriasis skin were Firmicutes (39% psoriasis, 43% normal skin), Proteobacteria (38% psoriasis, 27% normal skin) and Actinobacteria (5% psoriasis, 16% normal skin, p = 0.034). In trunk skin, Proteobacteria were present at significantly higher levels in psoriasis compared to controls (52 vs. 32%, p = 0.0113). The commonest genera were Streptococci in both psoriasis (32%) and normal skin (26%). Staphylococci were less common in psoriasis (5%) than in controls (16%), as were Propionibacteria (psoriasis 0.0001669%, controls 0.0254%). Both Staphylococci and Propionibacteria were significantly lower in psoriasis versus control limb skin (p = 0.051, 0.046, respectively). This study has shown some differences in microbiota between psoriasis and normal skin. Whether these are of primary aetiological significance, or secondary to the altered skin of psoriasis remains to be determined.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

OTU:

Operational taxonomic unit

PCoA:

Principal coordinate analysis

RDP:

Ribosomal database project

TMEV:

TM4 multiexperiment viewer

BLAST:

Basic local alignment search tool

References

  1. Aly R, Maibach HE, Mandel A (1976) Bacterial flora in psoriasis. Br J Dermatol 95:603–606
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  2. Andersson AF, Lindberg M, Jakobsson H, Bached F, Nyren P, Engsrand L (2008) Comparative analysis of human gut microbiota by barcoded pyrosequencing. PlosONE 3(7):e2836
    Google Scholar
  3. Fry L, Baker BS (2007) Triggering psoriasis: the role of infections and medications. Clin in Dermatol 95:606–615
    Article Google Scholar
  4. Gao Z, Tseng C, Strober BE, Pei Z, Blasser MJ (2008) Substantial alterations of the cutaneous bacterial biota in psoriatic lesions. PLoS ONE 3:e2719
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  5. Grice EA, Kong HH, Conlan S, Denning CB, Davis J, Young J, Young AC, Bouffard GC (2009) Topographical and temporal diversity of the human skin microbiome. Science 324:1190–1192
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  6. Grice EA, Segre JA (2011) The skin microbiome. Nat Rev Microbiol 4:244–253
    Article Google Scholar
  7. Maidak BL, Cole JR, Lilburn TG, Parker CT Jr, Saxman PR, Stredwick JDI, Garrity GM, Olsen GJ, Pramanik S, Schmidt TM, Tiedje MJ (2000) The RDP-II (ribosomal database project). NAR 2:173–174
    Article Google Scholar
  8. Marguiles M, Egholm L, Altman WE, Attiya S et al (2005) Genome sequencing in microfabricated high-density picolitre reactors. Nature 437(7057):376–380
    Google Scholar
  9. McFadden JP, Baker BS, Powles AV, Fry L (2009) Psoriasis and streptococci: the natural selection of psoriasis revisited. Br J Dermatol 160:929–937
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  10. Munz OH, Sela S, Baker BS, Griffiths CEM, Powles AV, Fry L (2010) Evidence for the presence of bacteria of bacteria in the blood of psoriasis patients. Arch Dermatol Res 382:495–498
    Article Google Scholar
  11. Nakatsuji T et al (2011) Annual meeting of the society for investigative dermatology in phoenix, Arizona. J Invest Dermatol 131(Suppl 1):S102
    Google Scholar
  12. Norrlind R (1955) Significance of infections in origin of psoriasis. Acta Rhematol Scand 1:135–144
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  13. Osterlund A, Engstrand L (1997) An intracellular sanctuary for Streptococcus pyogenes in human tonsillar epithelium—studies of asymptomatic carriers and in cultured biopsies. Acta Otolaryngol 117:883–888
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  14. Snelling AM, Saville T, Stevens T, Beggs CB (2011) Comparative evaluation of the hygienic efficacy of an ultra-rapid hand dryer versus conventional warm air hand dryers. J Appl Microbiol 110:19–26
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  15. Tervaert WE, Esseveld H (1970) A study of the incidence of haemolytic streptococci in the throat of patients with psoriasis vulgaris, with reference to their role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Dermatologica 140:282–290
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  16. Turnbaugh PJ, Ley RE, Hamady M, Fraser-Liggett CM, Knight R, Gordon JI (2007) The human microbiome project. Nature 449(7164):804–810
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar

Download references

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden
    Annika Fahlén & Lars Engstrand
  2. Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Solna, Sweden
    Lars Engstrand
  3. London, UK
    Barbara S. Baker
  4. Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, Room G3, St Mary’s Campus, London, W2 1PG, UK
    Anne Powles & Lionel Fry
  5. The Skin Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
    Lionel Fry

Authors

  1. Annika Fahlén
  2. Lars Engstrand
  3. Barbara S. Baker
  4. Anne Powles
  5. Lionel Fry

Corresponding author

Correspondence toLionel Fry.

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fahlén, A., Engstrand, L., Baker, B.S. et al. Comparison of bacterial microbiota in skin biopsies from normal and psoriatic skin.Arch Dermatol Res 304, 15–22 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-011-1189-x

Download citation

Keywords