Characterization of Bacterial and Mycosis Skin Flora in Seborrheic Macular Hypopigmentation - Microbiome

Hypopigmented skin changes are commonly encountered by dermatologists. A new dermatological entity was identified as scattered, hypopigmented oval-shaped macules and patches distributed mostly in seborrheic area of the face and of the trunk in dark skinned individuals. This patterned presentation of hypopigmentation was first described in the literature under the name of hypochromic vitiligo or vitiligo minor. Nerveless, histopathological patient's specimens analyzed by Krueger et al. clearly highlight that there is no tangible causal correlation with a diagnosis of vitiligo. They propose to rename this entity to Seborrheic Macular Hypopigmentation (SMH). The etiopathology of this dermatosis is still unknown preventing to propose any satisfactory treatment for this disfiguring affection.The objective of this study is to analyze the bacterial and fungal skin microbiome on hypochromic lesions of SMH compared to the surrounding non-lesional skin of the same patients and to healthy volunteers