Abstract
The probiotic activity of skin Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) bacteria can elicit diverse biological functions via the fermentation of various carbon sources. Here, we found that polyethylene glycol (PEG)-8 Laurate, a carbon-rich molecule, can selectively induce the fermentation of S. epidermidis, not Cutibacterium acnes (C. acnes), a bacterium associated with acne vulgaris. The PEG-8 Laurate fermentation of S. epidermidis remarkably diminished the growth of C. acnes and the C. acnes-induced production of pro-inflammatory macrophage-inflammatory protein 2 (MIP-2) cytokines in mice. Fermentation media enhanced the anti-C. acnes activity of a low dose (0.1%) clindamycin, a prescription antibiotic commonly used to treat acne vulgaris, in terms of the suppression of C. acnes colonization and MIP-2 production. Furthermore, PEG-8 Laurate fermentation of S. epidermidis boosted the activity of 0.1% clindamycin to reduce the sizes of C. acnes colonies. Our results demonstrated, for the first time, that the PEG-8 Laurate fermentation of S. epidermidis displayed the adjuvant effect on promoting the efficacy of low-dose clindamycin against C. acnes. Targeting C. acnes by lowering the required doses of antibiotics may avoid the risk of creating drug-resistant C. acnes and maintain the bacterial homeostasis in the skin microbiome, leading to a novel modality for the antibiotic treatment of acne vulgaris.
Highlights
The skin is the largest organ, and home to an ecosystem of a diverse milieu of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms, most of which are harmless or even beneficial to their host
We found that polyethylene glycol (PEG)-8 Laurate fermentation of S. epidermidis can lower the required dose of clindamycin against C. acnes, demonstrating the adjuvant effect of PEG-8 Laurate on the anti-C. acnes activity of clindamycin
Rich media with PEG-8 Laurate alone or bacteria alone served as controls. 2% PEG-8 Laurate did not influence the bacterial growth during a 12 h incubation (Figure S1)
Summary
The skin is the largest organ, and home to an ecosystem of a diverse milieu of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms, most of which are harmless or even beneficial to their host. Bacterial interference has been found in commensal bacteria, which mediated fermentation to prevent the colonization of pathogens on the host. Published results from our lab showed that commensal S. epidermidis in the skin can ferment glycerol, sucrose or polyethylene glycol (PEG) to produce SCFAs, such as acetic, butyric, lactic, and succinic acids, and successfully inhibited growth of opportunistic C. acnes [10,11,12,13]. Like the chronicity of the disease, antimicrobial administration route, effective penetration in the skin, the duration of therapy, poor treatment compliance, and easy access to therapeutic agents without medical supervision have contributed to the development of antibiotic resistance C. acnes. We found that PEG-8 Laurate fermentation of S. epidermidis can lower the required dose of clindamycin against C. acnes, demonstrating the adjuvant effect of PEG-8 Laurate on the anti-C. acnes activity of clindamycin
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