Background: Ear canal skin is directly attached to bone or cartilage, and is also connected to the eardrum. Acute otitis externa is cellulitis of the ear canal skin and subdermal tissue associated with acute inflammation and variable edema. We characterized the microbiome of the normal ear canal and ear canal with otitis externa.
Methods: In total, 28 samples (14 each from the ear canal skin of patients with acute otitis externa and normal healthy controls) were collected using swabs. DNA extraction and bacterial microbiome analysis via 16S rRNA gene sequencing were performed.
Results: The diversity index (mean amplicon sequence variants and Shannon index) were lower in the otitis externa than control group. According to linear discriminant effect size (LEfSe) analysis, a number of taxa differed significantly between the groups. Pseudomonas at the genus level and Staphylococcus warneri at the species level were identified in the otitis externa group.
Conclusion: Our results show the importance of the microbiome in the pathogenesis of otitis externa and provide a basis for treating acute otitis externa by targeting the microbiome.
Keywords: microbiome; otitis externa.