High-Altitude Living Shapes the Skin Microbiome in Humans and Pigs.

Bo Zeng,Long Jin,Guohong Chen,Jingsi Tang,Sudhanshu Mishra,Xianqiong Yu,Jiangchao Zhao,Ying Li,Wei Guo,Fanli Kong,Yutong Hua,Xuewu Yang,Surong Shuai,Lizhi Fu,Kun Liao,Siyuan Zhang,Xiaohui Si,Ruihong Ning,Jiandong Yang

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2017.01929

Abstract

While the skin microbiome has been shown to play important roles in health and disease in several species, the effects of altitude on the skin microbiome and how high-altitude skin microbiomes may be associated with health and disease states remains largely unknown. Using 16S rRNA marker gene sequencing, we characterized the skin microbiomes of people from two racial groups (the Tibetans and the Hans) and of three local pig breeds (Tibetan pig, Rongchang pig, and Qingyu pig) at high and low altitudes. The skin microbial communities of low-altitude pigs and humans were distinct from those of high-altitude pigs and humans, with five bacterial taxa (Arthrobacter, Paenibacillus, Carnobacterium, and two unclassified genera in families Cellulomonadaceae and Xanthomonadaceae) consistently enriched in both pigs and humans at high altitude. Alpha diversity was also significantly lower in skin samples collected from individuals living at high altitude compared to individuals at low altitude. Several of the taxa unique to high-altitude humans and pigs are known extremophiles adapted to harsh environments such as those found at high altitude. Altogether our data reveal that altitude has a significant effect on the skin microbiome of pigs and humans.

Highlights

Skin is the largest organ of the human body, and it serves as a physical barrier that protects the body from assault by pathogens and/or toxic materials
Because porcine skin is strikingly similar to human skin with respect to general structure, thickness, hair follicle content, and pigmentation, and has shown to be an excellent biomedical model for human skin (Summerfield et al, 2015), we examined the skin microbiomes of Tibetan pigs living at high and low altitude as well as low-altitude local pig breeds (Rongchang and Qingyu pigs)
Humans (n = 199) were split into three groups based on race and altitude: the high-altitude Hans (HAH), low-altitude Hans (LAH), and high-altitude Tibetans (HAT)

Summary

Introduction

Skin is the largest organ of the human body, and it serves as a physical barrier that protects the body from assault by pathogens and/or toxic materials. Several studies have indicated a key role for the skin microbiome in the health and adaptability of different host species including mice (Grice et al, 2010), humans (Nakatsuji et al, 2013; Smeekens et al, 2014), dogs (Rodrigues Hoffmann et al, 2014), fish (Larsen et al, 2015), and amphibians (Walke et al, 2014). Most of these studies have been performed at low altitude (Wolz et al, 2017); in contrast, little is known about the skin microbiome of humans and animals living at high altitudes (Wolz et al, 2017)

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Results

Conclusion