title: Propionibacterium AcnesPhylogenetic Type III is Associated with Progressive Macular Hypomelanosis.
abstract: Progressive macular hypomelanosis (PMH) is a skin disorder that is characterized by hypopigmented macules and usually seen in young adults. The skin microbiota, in particular the bacteriumPropionibacterium acnes, is suggested to play a role. Here, we compared theP. acnespopulation of 24 PMH lesions from eight patients with corresponding nonlesional skin of the patients and matching control samples from eight healthy individuals using an unbiased, culture-independent next-generation sequencing approach. We also compared theP. acnespopulation before and after treatment with a combination of lymecycline and benzoylperoxide. We found an association of one subtype ofP. acnes, type III, with PMH. This type was predominant in all PMH lesions (73.9% of reads in average) but only detected as a minor proportion in matching control samples of healthy individuals (14.2% of reads in average). Strikingly, successful PMH treatment is able to alter the composition of theP. acnespopulation by substantially diminishing the proportion ofP. acnestype III. Our study suggests thatP. acnestype III may play a role in the formation of PMH. Furthermore, it sheds light on substantial differences in theP. acnesphylotype distribution between the upper and lower back and abdomen in healthy individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University , Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Rolf L W
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University , Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Christian F P
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University , Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University , Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brüggemann
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University , Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Hans B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Lomholt
keywords: Cutibacterium acnes; Propionibacterium acnes; next-generation sequencing; phylotype; progressive macular hypomelanosis; single locus sequencing type; skin microbiota; subtype III