Microbiome in the hair follicle of androgenetic alopecia patients

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216330
• Publication Date: 2019-05-03T17:26:45Z
• Authors: Bryan Siu-Yin Ho; Eliza Xin Pei Ho; Collins Wenhan Chu; Srinivas Ramasamy; Mei Bigliardi-Qi; Paola Florez de S...; Paul Lorenz Bigli...
• Keywords: Male; 570; Burkholderia; Science; Microbiota; Q; Propionibacterium; R; Immunity; 610; Alopecia; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Medicine; Humans; Female; Hair Follicle; Research Article

Androgenetic alopecia is the most common form of hair loss in males. It is a multifactorial condition involving genetic predisposition and hormonal changes. The role of microflora during hair loss remains to be understood. We therefore analyzed the microbiome of hair follicles from hair loss patients and the healthy. Hair follicles were extracted from occipital and vertex region of hair loss patients and healthy volunteers and further dissected into middle and lower compartments. The microbiome was then characterized by 16S rRNA sequencing. Distinct microbial population were found in the middle and lower compartment of hair follicles. Middle hair compartment was predominated by Burkholderia spp. and less diverse; while higher bacterial diversity was observed in the lower hair portion. Occipital and vertex hair follicles did not show significant differences. In hair loss patients, miniaturized vertex hair houses elevated Propionibacterium acnes in the middle and lower compartments while non-miniaturized hair of other regions were comparable to the healthy. Increased abundance of P. acnes in miniaturized hair follicles could be associated to elevated immune response gene expression in the hair follicle.