Comparative study of normal and sensitive skin aerobic bacterial populations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate if the sensitive skin syndrome, a frequent skin disorder characterized by abnormal painful reactions to environmental factors in the absence of visible inflammatory response, could be linked to a modification in the skin bacterial population. A total of 1706 bacterial isolates was collected at the levels of the forehead, cheekbone, inner elbow, and lower area of the scapula on the skin of normal and sensitive skin syndrome-suffering volunteers of both sexes and of different ages. Among these isolates, 21 strains were randomly selected to validate in a first step the Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization (MALDI)-Biotyper process as an efficient identification tool at the group and genus levels, by comparison to API® strips and 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing identification techniques. In a second step, identification of the skin microbiota isolates by the MALDI-Biotyper tool allowed to pinpoint some differences in terms of bacterial diversity with regard to the collection area, and the volunteer's age and gender. Finally, comparison of the skin microbiota from normal and sensitive skin syndrome-suffering volunteers pointed out gender-related variations but no detectable correlation between a phylum, a genus or a dominant bacterial species and the sensitive skin phenotype. This study reveals that there is no dysbiosis of aerobic cultivable bacteria associated with the sensitive skin syndrome and further demonstrates that the MALDI-Biotyper is a powerful technique that can be efficiently employed to the study of cultivable human skin bacteria. To our knowledge, this is the first study focusing on bacteria in the sensitive skin syndrome. These results are of potential importance for pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, which are looking for new strategies to treat this multiparametric disorder.

Sensitive Skin: Assessment of the Skin Barrier Using Confocal Raman Microspectroscopy

“…In fact, higher ceramides/fatty acid levels found in the forearm of SS subjects compared to AD, together with the observation that FLG mutations do not seem to be reported more frequently in the SS compared to the NSS group, do not support the hypothesis of SS being a subclinical form of AD [40]. This is also supported by the lack of association between SS and the dysbiosis of the cutaneous microbiota found in a previous study, in contrast with AD, known to be characterized by an overabundance of Staphylococcus aureus [40,41]. Yet, should the TRP receptor family be involved in underlying SS sensations, this could suggest at least 1 common interface with AD where these receptors were shown to mediate sensory discomfort and inflammation, at least in a murine model [40,42,43,44].…”

Effect of two cosmetic compounds on the growth, biofilm formation activity, and surface properties of acneic strains of Cutibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus aureus

“…S. aureus MFP03 was initially isolated from the skin of healthy volunteers (Hillion et al., ). It was characterized by phenotypic, metabolic, 16sRNA sequencing and MALDI‐biotyper total proteome analysis.…”

“…Both compounds enter into the formulation of cosmetic products designed for sensitive skin, mild to moderate acneic skin, as well as in the used in deodorants or antiperspirants. The action of these compounds on C. acnes was compared to that on a strain of S. aureus , MFP03, collected on human skin exempt of any clinical sign (Hillion et al., ).…”

Effects of cosmetics on the skin microbiome of facial cheeks with different hydration levels

“…It was also reported that the skin microbiome was clearly different depending on the ethnic races, which may be because endogenous (immune status, genetic characters, and skin properties) and exogenous (foods and life styles) factors are different depending on ethnicity (Alexis & Alam, 2012;Pappas, Fantasia, & Chen, 2013;Perez et al, 2016). Many skin microbiome studies such as in patients with primary immunodeficiencies , normal and sensitive skin (Hillion et al, 2013), male and female individuals (Fierer, Hamady, Lauber, & Knight, 2008;Ying et al, 2015), patients with atopic dermatitis (Sator, Schmidt, & Hönigsmann, 2003), and twins (Si, Lee, Park, Sung, & Ko, 2015) have been performed, and their results have suggested that the delicate balance of the skin microbiome may have a strong influence on the functional differences between healthy skin and diseased or damaged skin (Kong, 2011;Rosenthal et al, 2011;Zeeuwen, Kleerebezem, Timmerman, & Schalkwijk, 2013).…”