JID Innovations | 2021
Understanding the gut microbiota in pediatric patients with alopecia areata and their siblings: a pilot study
Abstract
ABSTRACT A cross sectional study of 41 children ages 4-17 years with alopecia areata (AA) and 41 of their siblings without AA was conducted. Fifty-one percent had severity of alopecia tool scores in the 0-25% range, 12% between 26-49%, 36% between 75-100%. The fecal microbiome was characterized using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. A comparison of alpha and beta diversity yielded a small but statistically significant difference based on Jaccard distance, which measures species presence-absence between samples. However, a follow-up analysis did not reveal particular species that were present more often in one group. The relative abundance of one species, Ruminococcus bicirculans, was decreased in AA patients relative to sibling controls. An analysis of gene ortholog abundance identified 20 orthologs that were different between groups, including spore germination genes and genes for metal transport. The associations reported here support a view of pediatric AA as a systemic disease that has effects on hair but also leads to internal changes, including differences in the gut microbiome.