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          NIAMS Scientific Advances
          The Microbiomes of People with Recombination-Activating Gene (RAG) Deficiency Have Distinct Features, Including Antimicrobial Resistance Signatures








NIAMS Advances


The Microbiomes of People with Recombination-Activating Gene (RAG) Deficiency Have Distinct Features, Including Antimicrobial Resistance Signatures September 26, 2023
                                CLINICAL
        Heidi H. Kong, M.D., M.H.Sc.
                                          |
              Cutaneous Microbiome and Inflammation Section
                                          |
              NIAMS IRP
        DescriptionPeople with *RAG*-deficiency have distinct skin, nasal, and gut microbiomes as compared to healthy individuals. The researchers observed an enriched antimicrobial resistance gene content among the microbiota of these individuals. They also found that people with >*RAG<*-deficiency are colonized by eukaryotic viruses, including pathogenic viruses and atypical viruses.What is exciting about this article?Disruptions in immunity such as *RAG* deficiency can affect a person’s microbiome patterns. Future mouse studies could identify the mechanisms associated with the *RAG* genes that affect microbiota colonization. A pandemic like COVID-19 has highlighted the urgent need for predicting and tracking RNA viruses that infect and colonize humans. Atypical RNA and DNA viruses that infect humans may be readily identified in people with immunodeficiencies, serving as important examples of possible pathogens for pandemic preparedness. Demonstrated persistence of antimicrobial resistance is of potential clinical concern due to the risk of multi-drug resistant infections, especially in people with immunodeficiencies.Grant supportAR041219
        Research Areas:
            Clinical Research
      Computational Biology
      Genetics and Genomics
      Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
      Skin Biology
                                        Reference:
            Expanded microbiome niches of RAG-deficient patients.

    Blaustein RA, Shen Z, Kashaf SS, Lee-Lin S, Conlan S, NISC Comparative Sequencing Program, Bosticardo M, Delmonte OM, Holmes CJ, Taylor ME, Banania G, Nagao K, Dimitrova D, Kanakry JA, Su H, Holland SM, Bergerson JRE, Freeman AF, Notarangelo LD, Kong HH, Segre JA
        

                    Cell Rep Med.
        
                    2023 Oct 17;
        
                    4(10).
        
                    doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101205
                            PMID: 37757827
        Research reported in this publication was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIHʼs National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
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