Researchers have identified a strain of bacteria that could serve as the basis for an effective new treatment for eczema.
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It is a skin disease that is prevalent all over the world: atopic dermatitis, better known as eczema. No treatment exists to date, only the symptoms are treated with more or less success. But new research offers hope of fighting fire … with fire. Explanations.
Eczema, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus hominis
Research against eczema is progressing rapidly: good news for the 2.5 million people in France who suffer from it. The chronic disease which is, of course, not dangerous, but which has a strongly negative impact on the quality of life of patients. Atopic eczema sometimes appears in early childhood, very common and can be very disabling. It is characterized by dry skin, with fairly scattered erythematous lesions and itching.
???????????? The French face the#eczema… From exclusion to depression
Etude @IfopOpinion x @SanofiGenzymeFR
3rd most common skin disease, eczema has serious repercussions on the mental health and social life of the French ⬇️
*Produced by @francois_kraus x @Ellibec pic.twitter.com/cqvlfge4YJ
– Ifop Opinion (@IfopOpinion) January 28, 2020
However, in 2016, researchers had identified a link between the appearance of eczema and … the presence of Staphylococcus aureus (staphylococcus aureus). The latter would trigger eczema in a majority of cases, and increase the inflammation which causes redness and itching.
A team of researchers from National Jewish Health published on February 22, 2021 on the prestigious journal Nature (1), the results of a first study which could pave the way for a treatment. Another bacteria, the Staphylococcus man, has been identified and would be able to simply inhibit or even kill Staphylococcus aureus.
Fighting bacteria with bacteria
Eczema is very debilitating and current treatments are uncertain © Ternavskaia Olga Alibec
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To achieve this result, the researchers isolated nearly 8,000 strains of staphylococci, naturally present in healthy skin, to identify what they called the “universal strain”, the staphylococcus hominis. Initially on the skin of mice, then in a phase I trial on 54 participants, they therefore studied the impact of this bacterium on the presence of Staphylococcus aureus … with more than convincing results.
Read also – Microbiota: these bacteria, friends of our skin
The universal strain has been successful in killing, or at a minimum inhibiting, Staphylococcus aureus found on the skin of sick patients. Two-thirds of these reported a decrease in eczema symptoms, such as itching or redness.
The treatment is far from being able to be marketed, many tests will be necessary and in particular the verification of a possible use in the long term, but it presents a considerable advantage compared to current treatments: by using bacteria naturally present on the skin, it has no side effects.
Banner illustration: eczema, a physical impact sometimes associated with psychological distress © Josep Suria
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