THE AIM OF THE STUDY

Was to assess bacterial load in oral wounds in children with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study comprised 77 RDEB children aged 3—18 years (mean age 9.5±3.6 years) and 27 healthy children aged 4—18 years (mean age 9.8±4.1 years) who served as controls. Swabs for bacteriological study were taken from the oral wounds in RDEB patients and non-affected corresponding oral mucosa areas in controls. The microorganism growth was assessed after 24, 48 and 72 hours of incubation (37 °C and 30 °C) with subsequent identification in automatic bacteriological analyzer MicroScan Walk Away (Simens, USA). Results. The study revealed high prevalence and concentrations of Candida albicans (in 40.3% children), Staphilococcus aureus (23.4%), Enterobacter cloacae (9.1%), and Enterobacteria (10.4%) in RDEB children. From these species, only Candida albicans was present in controls (26%). The prevalence and concentration of commensal and pathogenic species correlated positively with age and significant difference was revealed between children at the age of 3—6 and 7—10 years (p=0.001). Thus, bacterial load in oral wounds correlates with the RDEB natural history and fibrosis progression. Delayed oral wound healing was associated with microbiome shift towards biofilm-producing bacteria Staphilococcus aureus and Enterobacter cloacae.

CONCLUSION

Oral wounds microbiome may be an indicator of RDEB severity and tendency to oral fibrosis. The decrease of bacterial load in the oral wounds may remove one of the healing obstacles and serve as fibrosis prevention measure.