Clinical characteristics and microbiota analysis of 44 patients with granulomatous mastitis

Wen Chen; Dongxiao Zhang; Yifei Zeng; Jianchun Cui; Jiale Yu; Junyue Wang; Shuqi Li; Qiao Huang; Khattak Mazher Mansoor

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1175206

Clinical characteristics and microbiota analysis of 44 patients with granulomatous mastitis

Front Microbiol. 2023 Apr 17:14:1175206. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1175206. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Wen Chen^{1

2}, Dongxiao Zhang¹, Yifei Zeng^{1

2}, Jianchun Cui³, Jiale Yu^{1

2}, Junyue Wang^{1

2}, Shuqi Li^{1

2}, Qiao Huang¹, Khattak Mazher Mansoor³

Affiliations

¹ Breast Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
² Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
³ Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, Liaoning Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Granulomatous mastitis (GM) is a chronic inflammatory breast disease. In recent years, the role of Corynebacterium in GM onset has received more and more attention. This study aims to detect the dominant bacterium in GM patients and analyze the association between clinical characteristics and infectious factors.

Methods: In this study, 88 samples from 44 GM patients, six acute lactation mastitis (ALM) patients, and 25 non-inflammatory breast disease (NIB) patients were divided into a GM pus group, a GM tissue group, an ALM pus group, and a NIB tissue group; then, 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing was used to explore their microbiota. The clinical data of all 44 GM patients were also retrospectively collected and analyzed to determine their relationship with infection.

Results: The median age of the 44 GM patients was 33 years, and 88.6% of patients had primary-onset cases, while 11.4% were recurrences; additionally, 89.5% of patients were postpartum and 10.5% were nulliparous. The serum prolactin level was abnormal in nine patients (24.3%). Samples from 15 GM patients (34.1%) had a Corynebacterium abundance of >1% (1.08-80.08%), with eight (53.3%) displaying an abundance of >10%. Corynebacterium was the only genus with significant differences between the GM pus group and the other three groups (p < 0.05). Corynebacterium kroppenstedtii was the predominant Corynebacterium species. Among clinical characteristics, a statistical difference in breast abscess formation was observed according to Corynebacterium abundance in Corynebacterium-positive and- negative patients (p < 0.05).

Discussion: This study explored the relationship between Corynebacterium infection and GM, compared the clinical characteristics between Corynebacterium-positive and- negative patients, and provided support for the role of Corynebacterium species-in particular, C. kroppenstedtii-in the pathogenesis of GM. The detection of Corynebacterium can predict GM onset, especially in patients with high prolactin levels or a history of recent lactation.

Keywords: clinical characteristic; corynebacterium; corynebacterium kroppenstedtii; granulomatous mastitis; microbiota analysis.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Beijing Ten Million Talent Plan Project (No. 2019A31), Research and Transformation of Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment Technology in Beijing (Z211100002921020), Gansu Provincial Science and Technology Program Subsidized Projects (21JRIRG303), and Young Doctor Scholar Project (2022).