A Dirty Business: The Truth About Our Skin Microbiome
Part 2
Dysbiosis: A Diversity Imbalance
Actevna® Research Group
19 Dec 2024
Dysbiosis is an imbalance or disruption in the microbiota, the diverse microbe communities that form complex ecosystems within the body called microbiomes including ; skin; gut; oral; urinary; ear; eye; respiratory; vaginal; and, placental (during pregnancy).
Low species diversity in the skin microbiome makes it less stable and prone to a dysbiosis of too many similar microbial species - typically harmful ones. So helpful microbes also trigger a dysbiosis if any species prevails and disrupts the delicate ecosystem balance.
High diversity dilutes competition between microbes to enable stable coexistence. Diversity means a greater mix of functions and services for the ecosystem. Dysbiosis alters this mix, which alters ecosystem interaction with the skin - and the body it protects.
A Personalised Microbiome
Adding to the complexity of skin microbiome diversity, areas of the body have a different composition of microbes that changes over time. Below is chart of 40 of bacteria species on 5 body areas of 129 people as their population abundance changes over 4 years. Also note that individual has a unique skin microbiome microbial mix - even twins aren’t the same.
Figure 01: Bar plots of average relative proportions of 40 main species on 129 adult skin microbiomes grouped by body area and year.
Credit: Huseynova, S., Huseynov, S., Mehdiyeva, G., & Quliyeva, R. (2023). "Spatial diversity of the skin bacteriome." Frontiers in Microbiology.
The unmapped Yanomami people (in Part 1 of this review) study revealed that not one single microbe strain dominated skin areas sampled. This is in stark contrast to the microbiomes of the 129 public health students of the Washington, DC, USA in Figure 01. As they have 40 main (predominant) species in samples areas. Arguably these young healthy Americans have a skin microbiome dysbiosis damaged skin barrier where in <95% of them this has already been presented as acne vulgaris.
Dysbiosis: Skin Heath
Skin microbiome dysbiosis is implicated in and often accompanies various dermatological conditions in its host, including; acne vulgaris, allergy, atopic dermatitis (eczema), cellulitis, chronic wound infections, contact dermatitis, cutaneous candidiasis, folliculitis, hidradenitis suppurativa, impetigo, skin inflammation, lichen planus, lupus erythematosus (cutaneous), oral dermatitis, perioral dermatitis, periorbital dermatitis, pityriasis rosea, psoriasis, rosacea, seborrheic dermatitis, skin sensitization, tinea versicolor, and vitiligo.
Figure 02: A dysbiosis damaged skin leads to inflammation, increased pH, water loss, reduced diversity, pathogenic colonization, and dermatological conditions like dermatitis, psoriasis, rosacea, and acne.
Credit: Sfriso, R., Egert, M., Gempeler, M., Voegeli, R., & Campiche, R. (2019). “Revealing the secret life of skin - with the microbiome you never walk alone.” International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 42(2), 116–126.
In addition to dermatological conditions, skin dysbiosis has also been implicated in systemic and chronic medical conditions.
There are multiple ongoing contributors to skin ecosystem diversity loss, primarily driven by environmental and lifestyle behaviours, not our own genetic or evolutionary loss, so mitigation and improvement strategies exist.
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