Vaccination does not appear to increase the short-term risk of relapse in multiple sclerosis.

Propionibacterium acnes, a major member of normal skin microbiota, is subdivided into 6 phylotypes: IA1, IA2, IB, IC, II and III. This study investigated P. acnes subgroups on the face and back in patients with severe acne and in healthy controls. In 71.4% of patients with severe acne, P. acnes phylotypes were identical on the face and back, whereas this was the case in only 45.5% of healthy controls. The healthy group carried phylotypes IA1 (39.1%) and II (43.4%), whereas the acne group carried a high predominance of IA1 (84.4%), especially on the back (95.6%). In addition, the single-locus sequence typing (SLST) method revealed A1 to be the predominant type on the back of patients with acne, compared with a wide diversity in the healthy group. We report here that severity of acne on the back is associated with loss of diversity of P. acnes phylotype, with a major predominance of phylotype IA1. The change in balance of cutaneous P. acnes subgroups might be an inducing factor in the activation of P. acnes, which could trigger inflammation.

ObjectiveStaphylococcus aureus dominates the skin microbiota in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD), with bacterial loads correlating with disease severity. The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the effect of a cosmetic lotion containing heat-treated Lactobacillus johnsonii NCC 533 (HT La1) on S. aureus colonization in AD patients.MethodsThis open-label, multicenter study was performed in AD patients in Germany. First, detection of S. aureus was performed in all patients using the swab or scrub-wash method of sampling, followed by quantitative culture or quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Repeatability and reproducibility of all method combinations were evaluated to select the best combination of sampling and quantification. Second, a lotion containing HT La1 was applied to lesional skin twice daily for 3 weeks. Scoring using local objective SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD), measurement of S. aureus load, and lesional microbiome analysis were performed before and after the 3-week treatment period.ResultsThirty-one patients with AD were included in the study. All sampling and quantification methods were found to be robust, reproducible, and repeatable for assessing S. aureus load. For simplicity, a combination of swab and quantitative polymerase chain reaction was chosen to assess the efficacy of HT La1. Following application of a lotion containing HT La1 to AD lesions for 3 weeks, a reduction in S. aureus load was observed in patients, which correlated with a decrease in local objective SCORAD. Interestingly, high baseline skin concentrations of S. aureus were associated with good responses to the lotion.ConclusionThis study demonstrated that the application of a lotion containing HT La1 to the lesional skin of patients with AD for 3 weeks controlled S. aureus colonization and was associated with local clinical improvement (SCORAD). These findings support further development of topical treatments containing heat-treated nonreplicating beneficial bacteria for patients with AD.

Long-lived acne papules are characterized by a B-cell infiltrate. A relationship exists between the duration and severity of inflammation and the alteration of sebaceous gland structures, leading to atrophic scar formation in acne.