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Skin abscesses displayed distinct cutaneous microbiota

Source/Disclosures Source: Horton JM. J Infect Dis. 2015;doi:10.1093/infdis/jiv003. ADD TOPIC TO EMAIL ALERTS Receive an email when new articles are posted on . Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on Subscribe ADDED TO EMAIL ALERTS You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.



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Patients with acute skin abscesses appeared to develop abnormal microbiota in areas around the wound, according to recent findings.

Researchers believe the perturbation of normal protective bacteria — perhaps caused by the recent use of antibiotics or antibacterial soaps — can predispose individuals to contracting MRSA and developing acute skin abscesses.

James M. Horton, MD, of the department of internal medicine at Carolina Medical Center, Charlotte, N.C., and colleagues analyzed the cutaneous microbiota of 25 patients who presented with skin abscesses to the ED at the center. Patients were aged 18 years and older and were seen from July 2009 to December 2011. The researchers recruited age-matched controls (n=25) without abscesses who provided samples from the same locations of the body as the abscess patients. Participants also reported on abscess risk factors, including recent use of antibiotics or antibacterial soaps. The researchers took skin swabs from around the abscess site, or peri-abscess, from an unaffected contralateral area, and from the same location on the control participants. Four samples were taken per site. The skin specimens underwent DNA testing, and purulent drainage from the abscesses was cultured.

The researchers found that abscesses in 15 patients were positive for Staphylococcus aureus. S. aureus positivity was more prevalent in the peri-abscess and contralateral skin samples of the abscess patients vs. controls.

While a community structure analysis revealed no pattern of clustering based on specimen type, mean pairwise distances were significantly greater in the control samples than in the samples from abscess patients. This suggests greater homogeneity in abscess vs. control samples. Metagenomic analysis indicated significantly more predicted genes associated with metabolic activity in the peri-abscess vs. control samples.

“That the peri-abscess and contralateral microbiota were similar in taxonomic composition and gene representation, but both differing from control patients, suggests that general microbiota-host interactions might be important in cutaneous abscess risk,” the researchers wrote. “We plan to extend and broaden these studies.”

Disclosure: Horton is a sub-investigator in a Gilead Sciences trial that is unrelated to the study. No other researchers report any relevant financial disclosures.