Amplification of probiotic bacteria in the skin microbiome to combat Staphylococcus aureus infection

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a Gram-positive bacterium. When pathogenic S. aureus colonises onto a skin wound or diabetic ulcer, it can cause a serious infection and lead to amputation or death. The current solutions (e.g. antibiotics and probiotics) are not sufficient enough to be a cure for this infection. To worsen the situation, the S. aureus bacteria continue to develop greater resistance towards antibiotics and are becoming more commonplace. An effective solution is to amplify the activity of probiotic bacteria in the skin microbiome by using selective fermentation initiators (SFIs) to induce fermentation. Our data demonstrated that the numbers of Cutibacterium acnes (C. acnes) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis), two major bacteria in skin microbiome, on human skin did not vary significantly over the span of seven days. This stimulates probiotic bacteria such as S. epidermidis to produce sufficient short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) to suppress the growth of S. aureus. The development of this new cure to S. aureus may reduce hospitalisation greatly as S. aureus accounts for the hospitalisation of more than five thousand people per year. Besides antibiotic, probiotics and bacteriophages, SFIs may become novel agents for treatment of infection.