Care products boosting the micro­biome now included in European guidelines

Hennigsdorf b. Berlin, 31 May 2022 – Frequently disin­fecting or washing your hands may cause skin diseases if doing so damages the skin’s natural healthy micro­biome and harms its healthy protective acid mantle. This may lead to itching and redness, but also atopic eczema, rosacea, or psoriasis, or worsen these symptoms or diseases. Professor Dr Christine Lang, professor of micro­biology at the Technical University (TU) of Berlin and CSO at BELANO medical AG, empha­sised this issue in an interview with the German perio­dical NATUR & HEILEN.

In the article, published in the magazine’s current issue, Professor Lang describes how healthy bacteria of the Staphy­lo­coccus epider­midis species act like a natural antibiotic against inflammation-causing pathogens (https://www.naturundheilen.de/artikel/das-mikrobiom-der-haut-unsere-unterschaetzte-schutzbarriere/). This natural balance in the skin’s micro­biome appeared to be “a training for good bacteria”. “The result is that our immune system in the skin also produces antibodies”, Christine Lang is quoted in the piece. Merely disin­fecting away harmful bacteria was hence counter­pro­ductive. Different bacteria had to interact for the skin’s surface to remain intact. Hence, the aim had to be to reduce excessive numbers of harmful micro­or­ga­nisms while simul­ta­ne­ously promoting the growth of healthy bacteria on the skin.

Clinical studies for effective products made from bacteria

Notwith­standing this scien­tific finding, there were as yet no pharmaceu­tical products which would be able to support the micro­biome. “It takes time before new agents or new therapies are added to medical guide­lines”, says Professor Lang. Furthermore, many medical practi­tioners still generally classified bacteria as pathogens, which had to be held in check. “Therapies which use healthy bacteria would be the next step.” Getting approval for a drug based on the micro­biome required a large number of clinical studies. First recom­men­da­tions on the use of care products which improved the micro­biome have already been become part of the latest European treatment guide­lines for atopic eczema.

Several years ago, Professor Lang already developed for BELANO medical the ingre­dient “stimulans” based on active bacteria and used, among others, in the medical skincare line “ibiotics med”. “It is a peptide, i.e. a chain of amino acids, which is created by the lactic acid bacterium Levil­ac­to­ba­c­illus brevis”, as Professor Lang explains in the article. “They stimulate good bacteria such as Staphy­lo­coccus epider­midis to propagate. And the more of these you have on your skin, the easier it becomes to reduce the number of inflammatory bacteria.” Studies have shown that in 80 percent of all parti­ci­pants, symptoms such as dry skin, redness, burning, itching, or prickling sensa­tions, and inflamma­tions all subsided within a few days. This made it possible to reduce or even phase out completely the use of prepa­ra­tions containing cortisone which may have side effects.

Diet and diabetes impact on skin health

Diets could also play a part in boosting bacterial diversity on the skin (i.e. the skin micro­biome). We already knew of the gut-skin axis that “gut bacteria react with the surface of the intes­tinal epithelium and send out molecules which enter the body and, among others, make contact with the skin and train its immune system,” as Professor Lang explains in the article. “What we eat and drink is digested in the stomach and the small intestine, and is then distri­buted within our body by the circu­latory system, one example being vitamins.” Anything the body didn’t need was excreted or sweated out through the skin, e.g. water, sugar, proteins, fats, or acids.

In turn, these then became “feed for the microbes”, the article says. Secreting through the skin hence deter­mined which bacteria found parti­cu­larly rich pickings. Professor Lang: “A study has shown that people with diabetes, who have higher blood sugar levels, also deposit more sugar on the skin when they sweat. This, however, is the preferred feed of inflammatory bacteria such as Staphy­lo­coccus aureus.” As a result, one in three diabetics also suffered from dry or itching skin. The magazine also quotes a French study which found that an unbalanced gut micro­biome could also promote allergic skin reactions or even atopic eczema.

Hence, Professor Lang empha­sised that in the treatment of skin condi­tions and skin diseases both – gut and skin flora – have to examined. This would also have an effect on the research and develo­pment efforts of biotech­nology companies such as BELANO medical.