16S rDNA based skin bacterial flora from leprosy patients and healthy individuals using Illumina MiSeq sequencing.. Mycobacterium leprae

Skin is the largest organ in humans and serves as a physical barrier. It harbors a large number of microorganisms having symbiotic, saprophytic, commensal, or opportunistic characters. Skin is extremely affected in Leprosy and the changes are irreversible. Leprosy is caused by Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Reports on the study of skin lesions for leprosy are insufficient in terms of microbial community structure. There are growing manifestations of dysbiosis in the commensal skin microbiome in association with pathogenesis of skin diseases like psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and vitiligo. Therefore, we investigated the skin bacterial community of affected and unaffected skin of leprosy patients and healthy individuals.