Altered Skin and Gut Microbiome in Hidradenitis Suppurativa. hs_microbiome

AbstractIntroductionHidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by the formation of nodules, abscesses, and fistula at intertriginous sites. The skin-gut axis is an area of emerging research in inflammatory skin disease and may provide answers to the pathogenesis of HS. Methods59 patients with HS provided fecal samples, nasal and skin swabs of affected sites for analysis. 30 healthy controls provided fecal samples and 20 healthy controls provided nasal and skin swabs. We performed 16s rRNA gene amplicon sequencing on total DNA derived from the samples.Results and DiscussionMicrobiome alpha diversity was significantly lower in the fecal, skin and nasal samples of individuals with HS which may be secondary to disease biology or related to antibiotic usage. Ruminococcus gnavus was more abundant in the fecal microbiome of individuals with HS, which is also noted in Crohn’s disease (CD), and may suggest comorbidity due to shared gut microbiota alterations. Finegoldia magna was found overrepresented in HS skin samples relative to healthy controls. It is possible local inflammation is driven by F. magna through promoting the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NET). These changes in both the gut and skin microbiome warrant further exploration, as therapeutic strategies including faecal microbiota transplant (FMT) and phage therapy may be of benefit.