The impact of NBUVB on microbial community profiling in the lesional skin of vitiligo subjects

The impact of NBUVB on the cutaneous microbiota of vitiligo patients remains to be fully elucidated. To characterize the cutaneous microbiota in vitiligo patients, cutaneous samples from 60 patients with vitiligo and after NBUVB irradiation were profiled using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Alpha diversity estimations revealed higher microbiota diversity in samples from patients with lesional skin. Beta diversity (Principal Component Analysis (PCA)) analysis showed that the bacterial community structure segregated differently between different groups. There was a statistically significant increase in the Sobs, ACE, and Chao indices in the NB group compared with NF group, as determined by t-test. The alpha diversity have no significant difference between NF and DB group. At the phylum level, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were the most predominant phyla. Propionibacterium and Pseudomonas were the most predominant genera in each group. In addition, Staphylococcus, Bacillus and Prevotella were enriched in DF group compared to DB group. Propionibacterium was enriched in DB group compared to DF group. Our studies indicate differences in microbial community dynamics of the lesional and non-lesional sites of vitiligo subjects, with greater diversity and higher association between microbial communities of the unaffected site. And NBUVB irradiation might eliminate these differences.