Association between baseline abundance of Peptoniphilus, a Gram-positive anaerobic coccus, and wound healing outcomes of DFUs

Authors

Kyung R. Min, University of Miami
Adriana Galvis, University of Miami
Katherine L. Baquerizo Nole, University of Miami
Rohita Sinha, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Jennifer Clarke, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Robert S. Kirsner, University of Miami
Dragana Ajdic, University of MiamiFollow

ORCID IDs

Jennifer Clarke

Dragana Ajdic

Date of this Version

2020

Citation

PLoS ONE 15(1): e0227006.

Comments

© 2020 Min et al.

Open access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227006

Abstract

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) lead to nearly 100,000 lower limb amputations annually in the United States. DFUs are colonized by complex microbial communities, and infection is one of the most common reasons for diabetes-related hospitalizations and amputations. In this study, we examined how DFU microbiomes respond to initial sharp debridement and off- loading and how the initial composition associates with 4 week healing outcomes. We employed 16S rRNA next generation sequencing to perform microbial profiling on 50 sam- ples collected from 10 patients with vascularized neuropathic DFUs. Debrided wound sam- ples were obtained at initial visit and after one week from two DFU locations, wound bed and wound edge. Samples of the foot skin outside of the wounds were also collected for compar- ison. We showed that DFU wound beds are colonized by a greater number of distinct bacte- rial phylotypes compared to the wound edge or skin outside the wound. However, no significant microbiome diversity changes occurred at the wound sites after one week of stan- dard care. Finally, increased initial abundance of Gram-positive anaerobic cocci (GPAC), especially Peptoniphilus (p < 0.05; n = 5 subjects), was associated with impaired healing; thus, GPAC’s abundance could be a predictor of the wound-healing outcome.