Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41388368›Full record

ArticleBMC microbiology2025

Environmental and skin-nasal microbiome variation in South African children with atopic dermatitis.

Yang Chen, Anna Dan Nguyen, Nonhlanhla Lunjani, Gillian Ndhlovu, Drishti Kaul, Britta De Pessemier, Teruaki Nakatsuji, Murunwa Madzinga, Evgeniya Sovershaeva, Carol Hlela and 8 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC microbiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Association betweenFrontiers in medicine · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors.

Yang ChenDept. of Dermatology, University of California San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, CA, USA.
Anna Dan NguyenDept. of Dermatology, University of California San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, CA, USA.
Nonhlanhla LunjaniAPC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Gillian NdhlovuDept. of Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Drishti KaulJ. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Britta De PessemierDept. of Pediatrics, UCSD, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Teruaki NakatsujiDept. of Dermatology, University of California San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, CA, USA.
Murunwa MadzingaDept. of Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Evgeniya SovershaevaDept. of Paediatrics, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Carol HlelaDept. of Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Michael LevinDivision of Paediatric Allergy, Dept. of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Avumile MankahlaDivision of Dermatology, Dept. of Medicine and Pharmacology, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
George HightowerDept. of Dermatology, University of California San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, CA, USA.
Chris CallewaertCenter for Microbial Ecology and Technology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Rob KnightDept. of Pediatrics, UCSD, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Richard L GalloDept. of Dermatology, University of California San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, CA, USA.
Christopher L DupontJ. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Felix DubeDept. of Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. sizwe.dube@uct.ac.za.

Funding

NIH HHS 1U54GH009824NIH HHS HREC/REF: 451/2014
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAtopic dermatitis (AD) in early childhood is associated with microbial dysbiosis. Skin and nasal microbiomes have been linked to AD severity; this relationship has not yet been studied in an African cohort. Here, we aimed to explore how urban and rural stratification, disease severity, and inter-site bacterial overlap shape the skin and nasal microbiomes of South African children with AD.

methodsChildren were recruited from urban Cape Town (CT) and rural Umtata (UM), South Africa. We profiled the skin and nasal microbiomes of 183 children (84 healthy controls and 99 with AD; ages 9-37 months), totaling 462 samples, including both lesional and non-lesional skin sites in children with AD, in a cross-sectional study design. Using 16S rRNA V4-V5 sequencing for its accessibility, we applied random forest (RF) models to classify AD status based on amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) and analyzed microbiome composition and diversity by region.

resultsWe found that RF models could predict AD status using both skin and nasal microbiomes (AUCs: skin = 0.69-0.79; nasal = 0.65), strongly driven by both Streptococcus and Staphylococcus. The correlations between skin and nasal microbiomes were significantly stronger in children with AD compared to controls, with higher correlations observed in rural UM (healthy r = 0.45 to AD r = 0.67) compared to urban CT (healthy r = 0.27 to AD r = 0.65). The skin microbiome diversity was higher in children from rural UM with healthy skin than in those from urban CT (p = 0.004). However, children with AD in both groups showed significant alterations in their microbiome, with those in rural UM exhibiting greater beta diversity changes (p = 0.001-0.002) than their urban CT counterparts (p = 0.002-0.349).

conclusionIn South African children with AD, skin-nasal microbiomes reflect shared reservoirs, and differences in the AD microbiome were observed between environmental regions. These findings highlight the need for geographically diverse studies incorporating skin and mucocutaneous sampling to better understand pediatric AD.

Indexed as

BacteriaDermatitis, AtopicMicrobiotaNoseSkinChild, PreschoolCross-Sectional StudiesDNA, BacterialDysbiosisFemaleHumansInfantMaleRNA, Ribosomal, 16SRural PopulationSouth AfricaDNA, BacterialRNA, Ribosomal, 16SAtopic DermatitisCchildhoodEczemaMicrobiomeNasalSkinStaphylococcusStreptococcus

Identifiers

PMID41388368
PMCPMC12817727

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.