Probiotic skin therapy may improve childhood atopic dermatitis
An experimental treatment for eczema which aims to modify the skin microbiome to safely reduced disease severity and increased quality of life for children has been discovered by the National Institutes of Health (NIS).
The study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine*, focussed on an experimental therapy which contains strains of live Roseomonas mucosa – a bacterium naturally present on the skin – which was applied by trial participants or their caregivers periodically for four months.
Researchers reported improvements in children as young as three that lasted for up to eight months after probiotic therapy was stopped.
“A child suffering from eczema, which can be itchy, painful and distracting for the child, also is very difficult for the entire family,” said Dr Anthony S Fauci, director of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which led the study. “These early-stage findings suggest that R. mucosa therapy may help relieve some children of both the burden of eczema symptoms and the need for daily treatment.”
*IA Myles et al. Therapeutic responses to Roseomonas mucosa in atopic dermatitis may involve lipid-mediated TNF-related epithelial repair. Science Translational Medicine DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaz8631 (2020).
