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. 2021 Oct 11;9(10):2132.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9102132.

Scalp Microbiome and Sebum Composition in Japanese Male Individuals with and without Androgenetic Alopecia

Kazuhiro Suzuki  1   2 , Mizuna Inoue  2 , Otomi Cho  1 , Rumiko Mizutani  2 , Yuri Shimizu  2 , Tohru Nagahama  2 , Takashi Sugita  1
Affiliations

Scalp Microbiome and Sebum Composition in Japanese Male Individuals with and without Androgenetic Alopecia

Kazuhiro Suzuki et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

The skin microbiome and sebum may be associated with inflammation-related diseases of the scalp. To assess the pathogenesis and progression of androgenetic alopecia (AGA), we analyzed the composition of sebum and the bacterial and fungal microbiomes of the scalps of 118 Japanese male individuals with and without AGA, then discussed their roles in the pathogenesis of AGA. Sebum triglyceride and palmitic acid contents were higher in the AGA group than in the non-AGA group. Malassezia restricta, a lipophilic fungus that consumes palmitic acid, was abundant on the scalps of patients with AGA. Cutibacterium, Corynebacterium, and Staphylococcus were the most common genera in both groups, and patients with AGA exhibited scalp dysbiosis (increased abundance of Cutibacterium and decreased abundance of Corynebacterium). Our findings suggest that both sebum and the bacterial and fungal microbiomes of the scalp may be involved in the development of AGA.

Keywords: Malassezia; androgenetic alopecia; microbiome; scalp; sebum composition.

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Conflict of interest statement

K.S., M.I., R.M., Y.S. and T.N. are employees of Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan).

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean relative abundances of the top four most abundant bacterial and fungal taxa (>5% abundance) in scalp samples from AGA and non-AGA groups by age group (20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s). There was a higher abundance of Cutibacterium and Staphylococcus and lower abundance of Corynebacterium in the AGA group than in the non-AGA group. In the fungal microbiome, Malassezia restricta predominated at all ages in the AGA and non-AGA groups.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Shannon diversities of microbial communities among AGA and non-AGA subjects by age group (20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s).
Figure 3
Figure 3
qPCR analysis of Malassezia colonization. There was a greater degree of Malassezia colonization in the AGA group than in the non-AGA group at all ages. The total Malassezia species colonization levels were determined via real-time PCR using a TaqMan probe.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Ratio of Malassezia restricta to M. globosa by age. The ratio of the number of M. restricta and M. globosa reads was calculated using the number of reads for all Malassezia species as 100%.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Heatmap of the predominant scalp microbiota and sebum composition.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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