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Bacterial microbiome and host inflammatory gene expression in foreskin tissue

2023; Elsevier BV; Volume: 9; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22145

2405-8440

Brandon S. Maust, Stefan Petkov, Carolina Herrera, Colin Feng, Bryan P. Brown, Limakatso Lebina, Daniel Opoka, Andrew Sentoogo Ssemata, Natasha Pillay, Jennifer Serwanga, Portia Seatlholo, Patricia Namubiru, Geoffrey Odoch, Susan Mugaba, Thabiso B. Seiphetlo, Clive M. Gray, Pontiano Kaleebu, Emily L. Webb, Neil Martinson, Francesca Chiodi, Julie Fox, Heather B. Jaspan,

Tumors and Oncological Cases

The penile epithelial microbiome remains underexplored. We sequenced human RNA and a segment of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene from the foreskin tissue of 144 adolescents from South Africa and Uganda collected during penile circumcision after receipt of 1–2 doses of placebo, emtricitabine + tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, or emtricitabine + tenofovir alafenamide to investigate the microbiome of foreskin tissue and its potential changes with antiretroviral use. We identified a large number of anaerobic species, including Corynebacterium acnes, which was detected more frequently in participants from South Africa than Uganda. Bacterial populations did not differ by treatment received, and no differentially abundant taxa were identified between placebo versus active drug recipients. The relative abundance of specific bacterial taxa was negatively correlated with expression of genes downstream of the innate immune response to bacteria and regulation of inflammation. Our results show no difference in the tissue microbiome of the foreskin with short-course antiretroviral use but that bacterial taxa were largely inversely correlated with inflammatory gene expression, consistent with commensal colonization.