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INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
Skin Microbiome in Small- and Large-plaque Parapsoriasis
Alexander SALAVA 1 , Pedro PEREIRA 2 , Velma AHO 2 , Liisa VÄKEVÄ 1 , Lars PAULIN 2 , Petri AUVINEN 2 , Annamari RANKI 1 and
Antti LAUERMA 1
Department of Dermatology and Allergology, University of Helsinki, and Helsinki University Hospital, and 2 Institute of Biotechnology, DNA
Sequencing and Genomics Laboratory, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
1
Staphylococcal enterotoxins have been shown to pro-
mote lymphoma-associated immune dysregulation.
This study examined changes in the skin microbiome
of parapsoriasis compared with intact skin. Swab mi-
crobiome specimens were taken of the parapsoriasis
lesions of 13 patients. Control samples were taken
from contralateral healthy sides of the body. Micro-
biotas were characterized by sequencing the V1–V3
region of the 16S ribosomal RNA bacterial genes on
the Illumina MiSeq platform. The most common ge-
nera in the microbiome data were Propionibacterium
(27.13%), Corynebacterium (21.20%) and Staphylo-
coccus (4.63%). Out of the Staphylococcus sequences,
39.6% represented S. epidermidis, with the rest inclu-
ding S. hominis, S. capitis and unidentified species.
No significant differences were observed between the
patients’ parapsoriasis and contralateral healthy skin
or between large- and small-plaque parapsoriasis. No-
table interpersonal variation was demonstrated. The-
se results suggest that parapsoriasis is not associated
with significant alterations in the cutaneous bacterial
microbiome.
Key words: skin microbiome; cutaneous microbial diversity;
cutaneous microbes; large-plaque parapsoriasis; small-plaque
parapsoriasis; cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
Accepted Feb 7, 2017; Epub ahead of print Feb 8, 2017
Acta Derm Venereol 2017; 97: 685–691.
Corr: Alexander Salava, Department of Dermatology and Allergology,
Helsinki University Hospital, Meilahdentie 2, FIN-00029 Helsinki, Finland.
E-mail: [email protected]
N
ovel molecular techniques have greatly improved
our knowledge of the skin microbiome (1). Genomic
studies with targeted sequencing of parts of the gene co-
ding for ribosomal 16S RNA have shown that cutaneous
microbial colonization is more complex than previously
thought (2). Studies characterizing the microbiota of
different body sites in humans have revealed that the
spectrum of micro-organisms varies depending on nu-
merous intrinsic and extrinsic factors (3–5). Common
skin diseases, such as atopic dermatitis, have been linked
to specific changes in the microbiome (6, 7). However,
it remains unclear whether these changes are caused by
microbes, or are secondary to factors such as changes in
the skin barrier or immunological factors (8).
Parapsoriasis refers to a group of cutaneous lympho
proliferative disorders, ranging from a chronic dermati-
tis-like picture at one end to a picture mimicking patch-
stage cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) at the other
(9). Clinical findings are traditionally used to classify the
disease into small-plaque parapsoriasis (SPP), i.e. clas-
sical digitate dermatitis, and large-plaque parapso