Bacteriophage of the Skin Microbiome in Patients with Psoriasis and Healthy Family Controls

Abstract

The bacteriophage (phage) component of the skin microbiome in patients with psoriasis has not been systematically explored. The purpose of this study is to investigate phage and bacterial components of the skin microbiome in patients with psoriasis and in healthy family controls. Lesional skin swabs of four different locations (elbow, forearm, knee, and scalp) were taken from patients with psoriasis. Healthy skin swabs of matched locations were taken from contralateral non-lesional skin and healthy family controls. Skin microbiomes were investigated using next-generation shotgun metagenomics sequencing. 81 skin microbiome samples (27 lesional skin samples and 54 healthy skin samples from contralateral non-lesional skin and family controls) obtained from 16 subjects with psoriasis and 16 matched family controls were sequenced and analyzed. Among phage species with abundant host bacteria, two significantly differential abundant phage species, Acinetobacter phage Presley and Pseudomonas phage O4 (adjusted P < 0.05), between psoriasis lesional skin and healthy skin were identified. Samples with high levels of these phage species had their host bacteria abundance suppressed (P ¼ 0.03 and P < 0.001). Differential phage composition between lesional skin in patients with psoriasis and healthy skin from contralateral non-lesional sites and family controls, as well as the suppression of bacteria host of the respective phage, suggest possible avenues for probiotic phage therapeutics.

The JNK Signaling Pathway in Inflammatory Skin Disorders and Cancer

“…Among these are PSORS1 which maps to HLA-Cw6 on the major histocompatibility chromosomal region 6p21.3, PSORS2 which maps to CARD14 gene in the chromosomal region 17q25-qter, and other genes involved in the regulation of interferon (IFN), NF-κβ and JNK signaling pathways [55,[57][58][59][60]. Environmental triggers of psoriasis are less defined, but there is substantial evidence linking psoriasis to drug treatments and the microbiome [51,61,62].…”

Analysis of the Bacterial Flora of Sensitive Facial Skin Among Women in Guangzhou

“…It is becoming more widely accepted that the present increase in allergies and (chronic) inflammatory diseases are a result of our modern lifestyle, and they are also related to changes in the human microbiome. 1 Disturbances in the homeostasis between the host and its microbiota may drive many inflammatory skin diseases, such as atopic dermatitis (AD), 2 psoriasis, 3 and acne. 4 Sensitive skin (SS) is generally characterized by subjective discomfort, no obvious signs of irritation, with symptoms such as itching, dryness, redness, and swelling.…”

An Early History of Phage Therapy in the United States: Is it Time to Reconsider?

“…Verbanic et al 41 showed through deep sequencing that bacteriophages are part of wound microbiomes. Wang et al 42 showed bacteriophages were part of the skin microbiome and there was differential bacteriophage composition noted between the microbiomes of normal and psoriasis skin. Finally, Ly et al 43 showed mouth and gut microbiomes are often shared by members of the same family and bacteriophages make up a sizeable portion of these microbiomes.…”