The skin, the body’s largest organ, is a complex ecosystem teeming with microorganisms collectively known as the skin microbiome. This diverse and dynamic community plays a crucial role in maintaining skin health, contributing to skin homeostasis, immune defense, and protection against pathogenic colonization. Disruptions in this delicate microbial balance, termed dysbiosis, have been implicated in a wide range of dermatological conditions, including prevalent issues like acne, eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea. These conditions not only affect individuals but also pose a significant global public health and economic burden, with limited effective and safe long-term treatment options available. Consequently, there is an increasing need for novel therapeutic strategies that can address the underlying microbial imbalances associated with skin diseases. Microbiome-targeted therapies, such as prebiotics, probiotics, and particularly postbiotics, have emerged as promising avenues due to their potential for safety and efficacy in restoring microbial balance and improving skin health. Postbiotics, defined as non-viable microbial cells or their metabolites, offer advantages over live probiotics by reducing safety concerns related to microbial viability while still providing functional benefits like anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, UV-protective, and wound-healing properties. This review aims to consolidate current knowledge on the skin microbiome’s role in both healthy and diseased states, emphasizing the potential of postbiotics as a therapeutic strategy in dermatology.
Key Findings
•The skin microbiome is a diverse ecosystem that is crucial for maintaining skin health and barrier function.
•Dysbiosis, an imbalance in the skin microbiome, is associated with the development and exacerbation of various skin diseases such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea.
•The composition of the skin microbiome varies significantly depending on skin type (dry, oily, moist), anatomical site, age, and environmental factors.
•Postbiotics, non-viable microbial cells or their metabolites, offer a safer alternative to probiotics while retaining beneficial properties for skin health.
•Postbiotics have demonstrated various beneficial effects on the skin, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, strengthening the skin barrier, boosting hydration, and selectively supporting beneficial microbes while inhibiting pathogens.
•Preclinical and clinical studies have shown the therapeutic potential of postbiotics in treating skin conditions such as acne (LactoSporin, postbiotic complex), atopic dermatitis (L-92, Lactobacillus-derived postbiotics), and hyperpigmentation (lipoteichoic acid, propionic acid, malassezin).
•Certain postbiotics, like pityriacitrin, exhibit UV-protective properties, and others have shown promise in wound healing.
•Postbiotics can be incorporated into topical formulations and have shown efficacy in improving skin hydration, reducing wrinkles, and enhancing skin tone.
•Inactivated bacteria (dead probiotics) and microbial metabolites (like SCFAs and lactate) also demonstrate beneficial effects on skin health by reducing inflammation, enhancing skin barrier function, and promoting wound healing.
This review highlights the critical role of the skin microbiome in maintaining skin health and its perturbation in various dermatological disorders. The emergence of postbiotics as a therapeutic strategy represents a novel approach by leveraging the beneficial properties of microorganisms without the safety concerns associated with live bacteria. The research consolidated here demonstrates the diverse applications of postbiotics, ranging from managing common skin conditions like acne and eczema to addressing specific concerns like hyperpigmentation and providing UV protection. The findings suggest that postbiotics, along with other microbiome modulators, hold significant promise for redefining dermatological care and improving patient outcomes. Future research should focus on further elucidating the precise mechanisms of action of different postbiotics, conducting larger and longer-term clinical trials across diverse populations, and developing targeted formulations to maximize their therapeutic potential in various skin diseases and for overall skin health maintenance. This evolving field offers exciting possibilities for developing safer and more effective treatments that harness the power of the skin microbiome.
Link to the study: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/13/4/791
