The Follicular Skin Microbiome in Patients With Hidradenitis Suppurativa and Healthy Controls

The study investigated the follicular skin microbiome of 30 patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and 24 healthy controls using next-generation sequencing. The patients with HS had a mean age of 46.9 years and 63% were female, while the healthy controls had a mean age of 32.2 years and 54% were female. The research, conducted between October 1, 2014, and August 1, 2016, revealed that the skin microbiome in HS patients significantly differed from that of healthy controls in both lesional and nonlesional skin. Five distinct microbiome types were identified, with types I (Corynebacterium species) and IV (Porphyromonas and Peptoniphilus species) being predominant in lesional HS skin. Notably, microbiome type IV was absent in healthy controls. The study also found a higher relative abundance of Propionibacterium in healthy controls compared to HS skin, suggesting its potential role in the pathogenesis of HS. The findings indicate a possible association between a dysbiotic cutaneous microbiome and the development of HS.