Enhanced Access to the Health-Related Skin Metabolome by Fast, Reproducible and Non-Invasive WET PREP Sampling.

Jamie Afghani,Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin,Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann,Matthias Reiger,Constanze Mueller,Claudia Huelpuesch

doi:10.3390/metabo11070415

Abstract

Our skin influences our physical and mental health, and its chemical composition can reflect environmental and disease conditions. Therefore, through sampling the skin metabolome, we can provide a promising window into the mechanisms of the body. However, the broad application of skin metabolomics has recently been hampered by a lack of easy and widely applicable sampling methods. Here, we present a novel rapid, simple, and, most importantly, painless and non-invasive sampling technique suitable for clinical studies of fragile or weakened skin. The method is called WET PREP and is simply a lavage of the skin which focuses on capturing the metabolome. We systematically evaluate WET PREPs in comparison with the non-invasive method of choice in skin metabolomics, swab collection, using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS2) on two complementary chromatographic columns (C18 reversed phase and hydrophilic interaction chromatography). We also integrate targeted analyses of key metabolites of skin relevance. Overall, WET PREP provides a strikingly more stable shared metabolome across sampled individuals, while also being able to capture unique individual metabolites with a high consistency in intra-individual reproducibility. With the exception of (phospho-)lipidomic studies, we recommend WET PREPs as the preferred skin metabolome sampling technique due to the quick preparation time, low cost, and gentleness for the patient.

Highlights

The skin is our largest organ and has a tremendous impact on both our physical and mental health [1]
The skin metabolome was obtained from 22 healthy individuals at the left and right antecubital fossa by swab and WET PREP sampling
Metabolomics of the skin has become of increasing interest and clinical importance, yet there is a lack of standard procedures, and, most importantly, there are no studies on the influence of sampling method

Summary

Introduction

The skin is our largest organ and has a tremendous impact on both our physical and mental health [1]. The metabolome of the skin thereby reflects dynamic changes that occur in relation to the macro and microenvironment, intrinsic factors, and in relation to skin and systemic disease [2–5]. In this context, aging is one intrinsic factor that influences the skin metabolome. Along with the abiotic environmental factors, the microbiome influences the chemical profile of the skin, e.g., through hydrolysis of chemicals secreted by the host or through secretions of secondary metabolites against pathogenic strains such as Staphylococcus aureus [5,6] These pathogenic strains have a role in the development of skin disease, and a diseased skin can be identified by changes in the metabolome, as reviewed in Yan et al, 2017 [7]. Taken the recent literature, the skin metabolome gives insights into the physiology of wound healing, topical diseases and their link to systemic comorbidities, and cosmetic aspects and aging related topics

Methods

Results

Conclusion