Cargando…

Antibacterial soap use impacts skin microbial communities in rural Madagascar

The skin harbors diverse communities of microorganisms, and alterations to these communities can impact the effectiveness of the skin as a barrier to infectious organisms or injury. As the global availability and adoption of antibacterial products increases, it is important to understand how these p...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Yu, James J., Manus, Melissa B., Mueller, Olaf, Windsor, Sarah C., Horvath, Julie E., Nunn, Charles L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6101359/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30125279
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199899
_version_ 1783349007090712576
author Yu, James J.
Manus, Melissa B.
Mueller, Olaf
Windsor, Sarah C.
Horvath, Julie E.
Nunn, Charles L.
author_facet Yu, James J.
Manus, Melissa B.
Mueller, Olaf
Windsor, Sarah C.
Horvath, Julie E.
Nunn, Charles L.
author_sort Yu, James J.
collection PubMed
description The skin harbors diverse communities of microorganisms, and alterations to these communities can impact the effectiveness of the skin as a barrier to infectious organisms or injury. As the global availability and adoption of antibacterial products increases, it is important to understand how these products affect skin microbial communities of people living in rural areas of developing countries, where risks of infection and injury often differ from urban populations in developed countries. We investigated the effect of antibacterial soap on skin microbial communities in a rural Malagasy population that practices subsistence agriculture in the absence of electricity and running water. We quantified the amount of soap used by each participant and obtained skin swab samples at three time points: prior to soap use, immediately after one week of soap use, and two weeks after soap use was discontinued. Soap use did not significantly impact ecological measures of diversity and richness (alpha diversity). However, the amount of soap used was a predictor of community-level change (beta diversity), with changes persisting for at least two weeks after subjects stopped using soap. Our results indicate that the overall species richness of skin microbial communities may be resistant to short-term use of antibacterial soap in settings characterized by regular contact with the natural environment, yet these communities may undergo shifts in microbial composition. Lifestyle changes associated with the use of antibacterial soap may therefore cause rapid alterations in skin microbial communities, with the potential for effects on skin health.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6101359
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2018
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-61013592018-08-30 Antibacterial soap use impacts skin microbial communities in rural Madagascar Yu, James J. Manus, Melissa B. Mueller, Olaf Windsor, Sarah C. Horvath, Julie E. Nunn, Charles L. PLoS One Research Article The skin harbors diverse communities of microorganisms, and alterations to these communities can impact the effectiveness of the skin as a barrier to infectious organisms or injury. As the global availability and adoption of antibacterial products increases, it is important to understand how these products affect skin microbial communities of people living in rural areas of developing countries, where risks of infection and injury often differ from urban populations in developed countries. We investigated the effect of antibacterial soap on skin microbial communities in a rural Malagasy population that practices subsistence agriculture in the absence of electricity and running water. We quantified the amount of soap used by each participant and obtained skin swab samples at three time points: prior to soap use, immediately after one week of soap use, and two weeks after soap use was discontinued. Soap use did not significantly impact ecological measures of diversity and richness (alpha diversity). However, the amount of soap used was a predictor of community-level change (beta diversity), with changes persisting for at least two weeks after subjects stopped using soap. Our results indicate that the overall species richness of skin microbial communities may be resistant to short-term use of antibacterial soap in settings characterized by regular contact with the natural environment, yet these communities may undergo shifts in microbial composition. Lifestyle changes associated with the use of antibacterial soap may therefore cause rapid alterations in skin microbial communities, with the potential for effects on skin health. Public Library of Science 2018-08-20 /pmc/articles/PMC6101359/ /pubmed/30125279 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199899 Text en © 2018 Yu et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Yu, James J.
Manus, Melissa B.
Mueller, Olaf
Windsor, Sarah C.
Horvath, Julie E.
Nunn, Charles L.
Antibacterial soap use impacts skin microbial communities in rural Madagascar
title Antibacterial soap use impacts skin microbial communities in rural Madagascar
title_full Antibacterial soap use impacts skin microbial communities in rural Madagascar
title_fullStr Antibacterial soap use impacts skin microbial communities in rural Madagascar
title_full_unstemmed Antibacterial soap use impacts skin microbial communities in rural Madagascar
title_short Antibacterial soap use impacts skin microbial communities in rural Madagascar
title_sort antibacterial soap use impacts skin microbial communities in rural madagascar
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6101359/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30125279
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199899
work_keys_str_mv AT yujamesj antibacterialsoapuseimpactsskinmicrobialcommunitiesinruralmadagascar
AT manusmelissab antibacterialsoapuseimpactsskinmicrobialcommunitiesinruralmadagascar
AT muellerolaf antibacterialsoapuseimpactsskinmicrobialcommunitiesinruralmadagascar
AT windsorsarahc antibacterialsoapuseimpactsskinmicrobialcommunitiesinruralmadagascar
AT horvathjuliee antibacterialsoapuseimpactsskinmicrobialcommunitiesinruralmadagascar
AT nunncharlesl antibacterialsoapuseimpactsskinmicrobialcommunitiesinruralmadagascar