Department of Dermatology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Department of Nephrology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
J Dermatol Sci. 2021 May;102(2):109-115. doi: 10.1016/j.jdermsci.2021.04.003. Epub 2021 Apr 15.
The gut microbiota is known to play a key role in autoimmune diseases.
To identify and compare the characteristics in the gut microbial composition of patients with alopecia areata (AA) and healthy controls (HCs).
In a cross-sectional discovery cohort, we enrolled 33 patients with AA and 35 HCs from the same geographic location in Shanghai, China. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing and bioinformatic analyses were conducted to analyze DNA extracted from the subjects.
The α-diversity of the AA group demonstrated no statistically significant differences compared with the HC group (P > 0.05). However, the overall gut microbial communities in the AA group were distinct from the HCs (P = 0.0096). We also adopted a random forest model to select three AA-associated OTU biomarkers: OTU1237(Achromobacter), OTU257(Megasphaera), and OTU1784(Lachnospiraceae Incertae Sedis).
The overall gut microbial composition for AA was distinct from that of HCs. The gut microbial markers we identified may potentially be used for earlier diagnosis and as therapeutic targets.
肠道微生物群在自身免疫性疾病中起着关键作用。
确定并比较斑秃（AA）患者和健康对照（HC）肠道微生物组成的特征。
在一项横断面发现性队列研究中，我们从中国上海同一地理位置招募了 33 名 AA 患者和 35 名 HC。对受试者的 DNA 进行 16S rRNA 基因测序和生物信息学分析。
AA 组的 α 多样性与 HC 组相比无统计学差异（P > 0.05）。然而，AA 组的整体肠道微生物群落与 HC 组明显不同（P = 0.0096）。我们还采用随机森林模型选择了三个与 AA 相关的 OTU 生物标志物：OTU1237（不动杆菌）、OTU257（巨球形菌）和 OTU1784（未确定地位的厚壁菌科）。
AA 的整体肠道微生物组成与 HC 不同。我们鉴定的肠道微生物标志物可能可用于早期诊断和作为治疗靶点。
