Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease and gut microbiota participate in the establishment of intestinal immunity. This study was performed to identify the fecal microbial composition of psoriasis patients, and investigated the influence of subgroup (type and severity) on the fecal microbial composition, and to define the key microbiota in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Fecal samples from 35 psoriasis patients and 27 healthy controls were sequenced by 16S rRNA and then analyzed by informatics methods. We found that the microbiota of the psoriasis group differed from that of the heathy group. The relative abundances of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were inverted at the phylum level, and 16 kinds of phylotype at the genus level were found with significant difference. No microbial diversity and composition alteration were observed among the four types of psoriasis. The microbiota of psoriasis patients in the severe state differs from those of psoriasis patients with more mild conditions and also the healthy controls. The veillonella in fecal microbiota showed a positive relationship with h-CRP in blood. This research proved that psoriasis patients have a significant disturbed microbiota profiles. Further study of psoriasis based on microbiota may provide novel insights into the pathogenesis of psoriasis and more evidence for the prevention and treatment of psoriasis.
Keywords: dysbiosis; gut microbiota; psoriasis; severity.