SKIN CARE 57
Maintaining skin health in the age of COVID-19
n Allison Garlet, Margaret Mullen, Philip Ludwig, Philippe Moussou, Sabrina Leoty-Okombi, Valérie André-Frei - BASF
COVID-19, the disease caused by a novel coronavirus in 2019, has fundamentally changed day-to-day life for most of the world. There has been a renewed focus on personal protection measures (PPMs) to reduce the spread of the pandemic. These PPMs include social distancing, wearing a face covering or mask in public, and hand washing to prevent the spread of the disease.1
Hand washing, when done
correctly, is efficient at killing a wide array of microorganisms, including coronaviruses.2-4 This is largely due to the surfactants in soap having an amphiphilic nature that disrupts the phospholipid bilayer, thus inactivating viruses and bacteria alike.5 While the use of soap is important to
prevent the spread of pathogenic organisms, frequent use can cause unintended consequences such as an unbiased removal of beneficial bacteria as well as dry, chapped skin.6-10
This is largely due to surfactants’
efficiency at removing lipids and other essential components from skin, resulting in damage to the skin barrier. The physical skin barrier is the horny layer made of dead corneocytes and intercellular lipids. This barrier limits water evaporation and prevents penetration of a myriad of external aggressors, such as invading pathogens. It is well established that the skin
microbiome is beneficial to overall skin health, including homeostasis of innate immune function.9,11-12
Dysbiosis or
imbalance of the skin microbiome can result in several skin disorders including atopic dermatitis, acne, seborrheic dermatitis, irritation, and inflammation.9
Our
microbiotic barrier protects our skin through prevention of colonization by pathogenic bacteria, education and stimulation of skin defense systems, regulation of cytokine production, inhibition of inflammation, and maintenance of epidermal integrity.13-14 Although there have been some studies
trying to understand the effect of excessive hand washing on the skin microbiome, many of them have used culture-based methods which can show an incomplete picture of these effects.8-9
In the past decade, there has October 2020
been an “-omics” revolution (the combination of genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic studies) that has enabled microbiome research. This development has allowed for the broader study of microorganisms on skin by using various DNA-sequencing technologies. In a marker- based approach, the 16S rRNA region, common to all bacteria, is used to define taxonomic or genus-level identities present in a sample. This method of analysis provides a more complete picture without the constraints of bacterial cell culture. It is necessary to understand the
damage done by excessive hygiene and
how to repair its effects both on the physical and the microbiotic skin barrier. Using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology, BASF explored the effect of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), a common surfactant present in soaps, and its effect on the skin microbiome. Additionally, we investigated the effect of Rapeseed phytosterols for their ability to restore both the physical and microbiotic barrier after exposure to SLS. Phytosterols, or plant sterols, are triterpenic compounds that naturally occur in plant species and bear a physical resemblance to cholesterol.15-16 Cholesterol’s function in skin is to stabilize
PERSONAL CARE NORTH AMERICA Abstract
In the era of COVID-19, hygienic practices for self-protection and limiting the spread of disease are currently the best defense against the pandemic. It is well known that excessive hygiene of the hands can leave dry, irritated skin, and consequentially a compromised barrier against infection. Excessive washing can also disrupt the balance of the skin microbiome, another factor which contributes to both skin health and immunity. BASF sought to improve the negative effects of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) - a common surfactant used in hygiene products - on the skin integrity and on the skin microbiome. Evaluation of Rapeseed phytosterols has shown not only help with the recovery of the physical skin barrier but also re-balancing of skin microbiome after exposure to SLS.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76