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Psoriasis

Skin microbiome

A decade ago, Chiller et al. concluded, “The skin is a poor media for bacteria given the large number of inherent defense mechanisms.”1) This assessment was undermined seven years later by Fierer et al.’s work, which found that the average human palm harbors at least 150 bacterial species – an order of magnitude greater than previous estimates.2) A 2009 Science study expanded on this understanding of microbial diversity in skin, showing that forearms and underarms, though located just a short distance apart, are as “ecologically dissimilar as rainforests are to deserts.”3) Trillions of bacteria, fungi, viruses, archaea, and small arthropods colonize the skin surface, collectively comprising the skin microbiome.4) One prominent researcher called human skin a “virtual zoo of bacteria.”5)

Novel insights are being revealed about the extent to which skin microbiota affects health. For example, odors produced by skin microbiota are attractive to mosquitoes as shown by in vitroA technique of performing a given procedure in a controlled environment outside of a living organism - usually a laboratory. studies, and variation in bacterial species on the human skin may explain the variation in mosquito attraction between humans.6)

Patients with psoriasis have different populations of microbes on their skin

Evidence of infectious cause

Superantigens10)

microorganisms and psoriasis11)

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Other treatments

For many physicians, immunosuppressive medications are a first-line treatment for psoriasis. These drugs suppress the innate immune response, which provides some patients with temporary symptom palliation, because they reduce immunopathology, the bacterial die-off reaction.

Patient interviews

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sarcoidosis, psoriasis, insomnia, kidney stones

Read the interview

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Interviews of patients with other diseases are also available.

Notes and comments

References

1)
Chiller K, Selkin BA, Murakawa GJ. Skin microflora and bacterial infections of the skin. J Investig Dermatol Symp Proc. 2001 Dec;6(3):170-4. doi: 10.1046/j.0022-202x.2001.00043.x.
[PMID: 11924823] [DOI: 10.1046/j.0022-202x.2001.00043.x]
2)
Fierer N, Hamady M, Lauber CL, Knight R. The influence of sex, handedness, and washing on the diversity of hand surface bacteria. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Nov 18;105(46):17994-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0807920105. Epub 2008 Nov 12.
[PMID: 19004758] [PMCID: 2584711] [DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0807920105]
3)
Grice EA, Kong HH, Conlan S, Deming CB, Davis J, Young AC, Bouffard GG, Blakesley RW, Murray PR, Green ED, Turner ML, Segre JA, NISC Comparative Sequencing Program. Topographical and temporal diversity of the human skin microbiome. Science. 2009 May 29;324(5931):1190-2. doi: 10.1126/science.1171700.
[PMID: 19478181] [PMCID: 2805064] [DOI: 10.1126/science.1171700]
4)
Kong HH, Segre JA. Skin microbiome: looking back to move forward. J Invest Dermatol. 2012 Mar;132(3 Pt 2):933-9. doi: 10.1038/jid.2011.417. Epub 2011 Dec 22.
[PMID: 22189793] [PMCID: 3279608] [DOI: 10.1038/jid.2011.417]
5)
Gao Z, Tseng C, Pei Z, Blaser MJ. Molecular analysis of human forearm superficial skin bacterial biota. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Feb 20;104(8):2927-32. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0607077104. Epub 2007 Feb 9.
[PMID: 17293459] [PMCID: 1815283] [DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0607077104]
6)
Verhulst NO, Takken W, Dicke M, Schraa G, Smallegange RC. Chemical ecology of interactions between human skin microbiota and mosquitoes. FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2010 Oct;74(1):1-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.00908.x.
[PMID: 20840217] [DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.00908.x]
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home/diseases/psoriasis.1346340510.txt.gz · Last modified: 08.30.2012 by paulalbert
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