Severe Atopic Dermatitis Associated With Skin Microbiota and Fungal Diversity

Patients with severe atopic dermatitis (AD) have dysbiosis of skin microbiota with increased fungal diversity compared with patients with mild to moderate AD, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

Researchers aimed to elucidate the relationship between fungal skin microbiota and the mycobiota in AD in relation to bacterial colonization by collecting skin swabs of 16 patients with AD and 16 healthy control patients from 4 different skin sites. Multiple time points were analyzed using DNA sequencing. Fungi and bacteria were analyzed using 16S rRNA.

In most of the participants, Malassezia species were the dominant fungi, but Candida species were more dominant in patients with severe AD. Staphylococcus species were dominant over Cutibacterium species in patients with AD. Bacterial and fungal compositions differed between patients with severe AD compared with mild to moderate AD and healthy control patients.

“We conclude that severe AD is associated with a pronounced dysbiosis of the microbiota with increased fungal diversity,” concluded the study authors. “Potentially infectious agents, eg Staphylococcus and Candida, were increased in severe AD,” they added.

Reference
Schmid B, Künstner A, Fähnrich A, et al. Dysbiosis of skin microbiota with increased fungal diversity is associated with severity of disease in atopic dermatitis. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. Published online June 21, 2022. doi:10.1111/jdv.18347