PhD Scientific Days 2026

Poster Session 1.S - Conservative Medicine

Region-Specific and Severity-Associated Alterations of the Skin Microbiome in Hailey-Hailey Disease

Name of the presenter

Metyovinyi, Zseraldin

Institute/workplace of the presenter

Semmelweis University Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology

Authors

Zseraldin Metyovinyi¹, Dóra Plázár¹, Norbert Kiss¹, András Bánvölgyi¹, Balázs Mayer¹, Eszter Ostorházi², Márta Medvecz¹
1: Semmelweis University Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermatooncology
2: Semmelweis University Institute of Medical Microbiology

Text of the abstract

Introduction: Hailey-Hailey disease (HHD) is a rare acantholytic genodermatosis that affects the bilateral flexural areas, presenting with vesicles and erosive plaques. Alterations of the skin microbiome may contribute to disease exacerbations at predilection sites.
Aims: This study aimed to characterize the clinical, genetic, and microbiome features in patients with HHD.
Methods: We analyzed the skin microbiome of three predilection sites in eight genetically and/or histologically confirmed HHD patients (female-to-male ratio, 7:1; mean age:48 years) and healthy controls (female-to-male ratio:5:1; mean age:47 years) using 16S rRNA (V3-V4) sequencing followed by analysis on the CosmosID bioinformatics platform.
Results: Region-specific taxonomic and functional dysbiosis was observed in HHD, predominantly in lesional but also in clinically non-lesional skin. The axillary region showed increased abundance of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, submammary samples were dominated by Finegoldia magna and Anaerococcus sp., whereas the inguinal microbiome was characterized by anaerobic taxa. Microbial alterations were most prominent in lesional and clinically more severe disease.
Conclusion: The observed dysbiosis can potentially influence the HHD phenotype, exacerbation, and persistence of the lesions in predilection areas. These findings suggest that microbial imbalance is not merely secondary to the skin lesions but may represent a predisposing microenvironment in flexural skin.
Funding: This work was supported by grants from the National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary—NKFIH FK_131916, 2019 (Semmelweis University, Márta Medvecz.).