Skin microbiome in diabetes mellitus: a literature review

Abstract

The authors performed a review to investigate if there are alterations in the skin microbiome among individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM) and to assess how these alterations may contribute to specific skin conditions and complications associated with this disease. On December 1 st , 2023, searches on the PubMed ® and ScienceDirect databases were conducted, using the Mesh Terms "skin microbiome" AND "DM" , limiting the results to those published in the last 10 years. The authors identified seven articles, including two reviews and five original research papers. Both type of papers revealed that individuals with DM exhibited significant less diversity in terms of microbial richness, with a notable colonization by Staphylococcus spp. In conclusion, the skin microbiome appears to be impaired in individuals with DM. However, more longitudinal studies are necessary to determine whether this impairment is a consequence of DM and to understand how it may interfere with DM complications.