Skin microbiome profile in people living with HIV/AIDS in Cameroon.

The presence of pathogens and the state of diseases, particularly skin diseases, may alter the composition of human skin microbiome. HIV infection has been reported to impair gut microbiome that leads to severe consequences. However, with cutaneous manifestations, that can be life-threatening, due to the opportunistic pathogens, little is known whether HIV infection might influence the skin microbiome and affect the skin homeostasis. This study catalogued the profile of skin microbiome of healthy Cameroonians, at three different skin sites, and compared them to the HIV-infected individuals. Taking advantage on the use of molecular assay coupled with next-generation sequencing, this study revealed that alpha-diversity of the skin microbiome was higher and beta-diversity was altered significantly in the HIV-infected Cameroonians than in the healthy ones. The relative abundance of skin microbes such as Micrococcus and Kocuria species was higher and Cutibacterium species was significantly lower in HIV-infected people, indicating an early change in the human skin microbiome in response to the HIV infection. This phenotypical shift was not related to the number of CD4 T cell count thus the cause remains to be identified. Overall, these data may offer an important lead on the role of skin microbiome in the determination of cutaneous disease state and the discovery of safe pharmacological preparations to treat microbial-related skin disorders.

Expression profiles of miR3181 and miR199a in plasma and placenta of virally suppressed HIV-1 infected Cameroonian pregnant women at delivery.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection during pregnancy reduces the transplacental transfer of protective maternal antibodies needed to confer immunity during early postnatal life. However, the mediation of MicroRNA in this dysregulation is not well understood MicroRNAs 3181 and 199a have been shown to mediate neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn)-like transmembrane antibody transfer and endocytosis respectively but their expression levels in the placenta and plasma in women living with HIV have not been extensively investigated. The objective of this study was to determine how the expression levels of miR-3181 and miR-199a in the placenta and plasma are affected in women chronically infected with HIV who are on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and are virally suppressed at delivery. In this pilot case-control study, plasma and placenta biopsies were obtained from 36 (18 HIV+ and 18 HIV-) Cameroonian women at delivery. MicroRNAs 3181 and 199a expression levels were measured using RT-qPCR, data was analyzed using SPSS22.0 and R 3.60, and p values below 0.05 were considered statistically significant. All the HIV-infected women were on known ART regimens and were virally suppressed. There was no significant difference in the levels of miR-3181 (p>0.05) in the placenta and plasma amongst HIV-infected and HIV uninfected women. The expression levels of miR-199a were significantly greater in the plasma compared to the placenta of HIV+ (p = 0.00005) and HIV- (p = 0.027) women. Moreover, there was a significantly higher (p = 0.02) level of miR-199a in the plasma of women with HIV and their uninfected counterparts. Linear regression models adjusted for systolic pressure showed no significant difference (p>0.05) in the levels of miR-199a and miR-3181 in both the placenta and plasma due to HIV infection. Our findings suggest that even though ART uptake and viral suppression might help in maintaining miR3181 and miR199a levels in the placenta of women with HIV at comparative levels to those of their HIV negative counterparts, the significantly higher levels of miR-199a in the plasma of women with HIV compared to the placenta might highlight lurking systemic dangers and requires further investigation.

Skin microbiome profile of healthy Cameroonians and Japanese.

The commensal microbes of the skin have a significant impact on dermal physiology and pathophysiology. Racial and geographical differences in the skin microbiome are suggested and may play a role in the sensitivity to dermatological disorders, including infectious diseases. However, little is known about the skin microbiome profiles of people living in Central Africa, where severe tropical infectious diseases impose a burden on the inhabitants. This study provided the skin profiles of healthy Cameroonians in different body sites and compared them to healthy Japanese participants. The skin microbiome of Cameroonians was distinguishable from that of Japanese in all skin sites examined in this study. For example, Micrococcus was predominantly found in skin samples of Cameroonians but mostly absent in Japanese skin samples. Instead, the relative abundance of Cutibacterium species was significantly higher in healthy Japanese. Principal coordinate analysis of beta diversity showed that the skin microbiome of Cameroonians formed different clusters from Japanese, suggesting a substantial difference in the microbiome profiles between participants of both countries. In addition, the alpha diversity in skin microbes was higher in Cameroonians than Japanese participants. These data may offer insights into the determinant factors responsible for the distinctness of the skin microbiome of people living in Central Africa and Asia.