Integrated Skin Microbiome-Metabolome Analysis Reveals Altered Bacterial Community Composition and Metabolites in Psoriasis

Abstract

Objective: Current theories highlight the role of the microbiome in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Additionally, abnormal metabolism can alter disease processes in terms of occurrence, progression, and prognosis. Therefore, an integrative microbiome and metabolome analysis of the skin may aid in understanding the disease pathogenesis and identify therapeutic targets for psoriasis. Methods: We recruited 22 patients with psoriasis and 22 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Skin swabs were collected from the participants’ scalps. All samples underwent amplicon sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 1 and V3V4 16S rRNA regions and metabolome analysis. For amplicon data, analysis of the alpha diversities, microbial community structures and principal coordinate analysis were performed. Differential metabolites and pathway enrichment were analyzed for metabolome data. Student t test and Wilcoxon rank sum test were used for statistical analysis. Results: The psoriatic lesions were characterized by higher bacterial diversity, significantly higher abundances of Corynebacterium (P < 0.001) and Staphylococcus (P = 0.012), and a lower abundance of Cutibacterium (P < 0.001) compared with healthy controls. However, no significant alterations in the fungal diversity or fungal taxonomies were detected. Metabolome analysis revealed that prostaglandin-related metabolites, nucleotides, and cysteine- and methionine-related metabolites were significantly enriched in patients with psoriasis, and these metabolites were positively correlated with the disease-associated bacteria Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium. Conclusions: We demonstrated significant alterations in the skin microbiome and metabolome in patients with psoriasis compared with healthy controls.