Dupilumab Alters Both the Bacterial and Fungal Skin Microbiomes of Patients with Atopic Dermatitis

• Published in: Microorganisms (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 224
• Main Authors: Umemoto, Naoka, Kakurai, Maki, Matsumoto, Takanao, Mizuno, Kenta, Cho, Otomi, Sugita, Takashi, Demitsu, Toshio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.01.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Antibodies; Antigens; Atopic dermatitis; Bacteria; CCL17 protein; Chemokines; Colonization; Community structure; Cytokines; Dermatitis; Drug therapy; dupilumab; Dysbacteriosis; dysbiosis; Eczema; Fungi; Health aspects; Malassezia; Microbiomes; Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms); Microorganisms; Skin; Skin diseases; skin microbiome; Staphylococcus aureus; Statistical analysis; Steroids; Taxonomy; Thymus; Yeasts; Japan; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; skin microbiome; atopic dermatitis; Malassezia; Staphylococcus aureus; dupilumab; dysbiosis
• ISSN: 2076-2607; 2076-2607
• DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12010224

The skin microbiome at lesion sites in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) is characterized by dysbiosis. Although the administration of dupilumab, an IL-4Rα inhibitor, improves dysbiosis in the bacterial microbiome, information regarding the fungal microbiome remains limited. This study administered dupilumab to 30 patients with moderate-to-severe AD and analyzed changes in both fungal and bacterial skin microbiomes over a 12-week period. and dominated the fungal microbiome, whereas non- yeast species increased in abundance, leading to greater microbial diversity. A qPCR analysis revealed a decrease in colonization following administration, with a higher reduction rate observed where the pretreatment degree of colonization was higher. A correlation was found between the group classified by the Eczema Area and Severity Index, the group categorized by the concentration of Thymus and activation-regulated chemokine, and the degree of skin colonization by . Furthermore, an analysis of the bacterial microbiome also confirmed a decrease in the degree of skin colonization by the exacerbating factor and an increase in the microbial diversity of the bacterial microbiome. Our study is the first to show that dupilumab changes the community structure of the bacterial microbiome and affects the fungal microbiome in patients with AD.