Microbiome dynamics of human epidermis following skin barrier disruptionOriginal paper
Karen Pendergrass is a microbiome researcher specializing in microbiome-targeted interventions (MBTIs). She systematically analyzes scientific literature to identify microbial patterns, develop hypotheses, and validate interventions. As the founder of the Microbiome Signatures Database, she bridges microbiome research with clinical practice. In 2012, based on her own investigative research, she became the first documented case of FMT for Celiac Disease, four years before the first published case study.
Read MoreWhat was studied?
Zeeuwen and colleagues examined how the skin microbiome recovers after mechanical disruption of the stratum corneum by tape stripping. They compared bacterial communities of the surface layer against deeper stratum corneum layers, and tracked recolonization over 14 days.
How was it studied?
Twelve healthy volunteers had upper buttock skin sampled by swab at baseline and after repeated tape stripping, plus five more volunteers sampled at forehead, armpit, and inner elbow for comparison. Barcoded 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA V3 to V4 region profiled nearly 500,000 bacterial sequences, and antimicrobial protein expression was measured by qPCR in a separate set of five volunteers.
What did they find?
Upper buttock skin held the greatest bacterial diversity of the sites tested, and composition differed by sex and by stratum corneum depth, with Firmicutes relatively enriched and Actinobacteria relatively depleted in deeper layers. After injury, the surface community was markedly disturbed through day 14, and the recovering neo-microbiome converged toward the deep-layer profile rather than back to the original surface composition, even though clinical healing appeared complete by day 14. Antimicrobial protein induction after tape stripping varied widely between individuals.
Why it matters
The findings suggest the deeper stratum corneum, not the exposed surface, may be the more stable indigenous reservoir shaping how skin microbiota reassembles after injury.