Abstract
The introduction of a strain or consortium has often been considered as a potential solution to restore microbial ecosystems. Extensive research on the skin microbiota has led to the development of probiotic products (with live bacterial strains) that are likely to treat dysbiosis. However, the effects of such introductions on the indigenous microbiota have not yet been investigated. Here, through a daily application of Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 on volunteers’ forearm skin, we studied in vivo the impact of a probiotic on the indigenous skin bacterial community diversity using Terminal-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) for 3 weeks. The results demonstrate that Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 inoculum had a transient effect on the indigenous community, as the resilience phenomenon was observed within the skin microbiota. Moreover, Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 monitoring showed that, despite a high level of detection after 2 weeks of application, thereafter the colonization rate drops drastically. The probiotic colonization rate was correlated significantly to the effect on the indigenous microbial community structure. These preliminary results suggest that the success of probiotic use and the potential health benefits resides in the interactions with the human microbiota.
Highlights
The human skin constitutes a protective barrier to prevent external aggressions and dehydration [1]
The skin bacterial community structure was analyzed using the Terminal-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) profiling method following the protocol of Blaud et al (2015)
The colonization of the skin by L. reuteri DSM 17938 was monitored by measuring the relative abundance of its associated terminal-restricted fragment (T-RF) (Figure 1)
Summary
The human skin constitutes a protective barrier to prevent external aggressions and dehydration [1] On average, this organ exceeds two square meters [2] and accounts for approximately 16% of the human body weight [3]. The effect of probiotic introduction on the indigenous skin microbiota has never been studied yet The objective of this small and preliminary investigation is to evaluate the impact of a modified Lactobacillus reuteri strain introduction on human skin bacterial communities. During 3 weeks of daily introduction of L. reuteri DSM 17938 on the skin, we followed the colonization of the probiotic and the structure of the indigenous bacterial community using a molecular fingerprint method. The experimental panel was considered as homogenous, we expected that the variability in skin microbial communities between individuals would influence both probiotic colonization and the response of the indigenous microbiota
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