96 SKIN MICROBIOME
Figure 9: Volunteer before and after washing with 1% EPI for 21 days
behaviour of C. acnes are summarized in Table 2. In Figure 7, a test person before and after using the test product is presented.
The new insights The above study demonstrates in many ways that an approach based on killing pathogens does not offer complete support to acne- prone skin. Moreover, treatment with only salicylic acid (or another disinfectant) does not show any significant improvement anymore after two days. The effect is gone once the killing is
stopped. The C. acnes takes again the upper hand. What is much worse, is that the skin microbial community is not restored and the protective microbiome remains suppressed. Using the EPI prebiotic not only reduces
the C. acnes population to a healthy 60% but also restored the communication between the whole skin microbiome. It seems that also C. acnes is converted to a loyal member of the microbial community. In fact, this EPI prebiotic improved the
activity of salicylic acid. Thus, the whole microbiome is restored and is again a cooperating community that regulates itself and that protects again the skin.
A dedicated prebiotic tested under rinse-off conditions Another unique property of the EPI is its excellent substantivity to corneocytes. Therefore EPI also supports the protective skin microbiota in rinse-off products. This supporting activity is demonstrated with
a test cleanser with 1% EPI against a placebo (Table 3). The skin microbiome was profiled with DNA sequencing before the skin was cleansed and once, four hours after cleansing.
TABLE 2: POSSIBLE GENE EXPRESSIONS FOR PATHOGENIC AND PROTECTIVE C. ACNES Pathogenic activity2
Protective activity3 ROS production (Porphyrin)
Pro-inflammatory (MAPK and NF-kB pathway) Aggressive acids Scarring dermis
Overkeratinisation (fillagrin) Comedones (oxidizes squalene)
Tissue degradation (Lipase, hyaluronate lyase, Phosphatase
Increasing pore size (Muscle contraction) The results after just one application are
shown in Figure 8. When the acne-prone skin is cleaned with the surfactant alone, the C. acnes population is unchanged, the pathogenic S. epidermidis is increased, and the protective microbiome is significantly fading away. It means that washing the acne- prone skin with a surfactant removes the last hope to fight back against acne pathogens. However, when the surfactant is enriched with EPI, the protective microbiome is significantly promoted, while the two main pathogens are significantly reduced. Each time when the acne-prone skin is cleaned with the EPI prebiotic, the protective microbiome becomes stronger, while the pathogens are becoming weaker. In Figure 9, the results of one test person are presented.
Conclusion Cosmetic products for acne can still be improved with the simple addition of a proprietary enzymatically purified inulin. This
TABLE 3: A TEST CLEANSER SHOWING 1% EPI VERSUS A PLACEBO Placebo (w/w%)
Water
Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate EPI
PERSONAL CARE September 2023
Qs 10 -
Test cream (w/w%) Qs 10 1
type of inulin is able to push C. acnes back to its healthy level. The uniqueness of this treatment is that the complete protective microbiome is restored. It seems that the villain C. acnes has been
converted to a valuable protective member of the skin microbiota. Both the abundance and the cooperation between all the micro- organisms have been restored. In other words, the skin is becoming healthy again. This is crucial as during an acne outburst the skin is not protected by the unbalanced skin microbiome. Even when the treatment is stopped for a
few days, the beneficial effect of enzymatically- purified inulin is long-lasting.
References 1. Ahle et al. Interference and co-existence of staphylococci and Cutibacterium acnes within the healthy human skin microbiome. Communications Biology. 5; 923 (2022)
2. Lee et al. Potential Role of the Microbiome in Acne: A Comprehensive Review. J. Clin. Med. 8; 7, 987 (2019)
3. Rhee et al. Characterization of a live Cutibacterium acnes subspecies defendens strain XYCM42 and clinical assessment as a topical regimen for general skin health and cosmesis. J. Cosmet. Dermatol. Vol 22, 3, 1031-1045 (2023)
www.personalcaremagazine.com PC
Antioxidant Rox P and more Vitamin B12
Reduction inflammation (reducing IL-1a, IL-6; IL-8) Reduction inflammation (reducing IL-1a, IL-6; IL-8) Reduction of pigment spots (PA) Antiaging (upregulating fibroblasts)
Skin integrity (IGF-1)
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