Microbial Deodorant

Donor bacteria helped eliminate the smell of sweat

Oleg Lischuk, N+1

American and Belgian scientists conducted a successful experiment on transplanting donor bacteria from the armpits to eliminate the sharp smell of sweat. The results of the work were presented in January 2017 at the dermatological symposium at the Swedish Karolinska Institute, he also writes about them New Scientist (Stinky armpits? Bacteria from a less smelly person can fix them). A review article with a theoretical justification of the experiment was published in the journal Experimental Dermatology (Callewaert et al., Towards a bacterial treatment for armpit malodour).

Most people's fresh sweat doesn't smell like anything. The smell appears as a result of the vital activity of the skin microbiota (mainly bacteria of childbirth Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium), decomposing the secrets of sweat and sebaceous glands with the release of volatile odorous substances. As a rule, regular hygiene and the use of deodorants help to avoid unpleasant odors, but in some people the sharp and unpleasant smell of sweat cannot be eliminated. This condition, known as osmidrosis and difficult to correct, is most often associated with the dominance of bacteria Staphylococcus hominis, Corynebacterium tuberculostearicum and Anaerococcus spp. (corynebacteria are of the greatest importance) in the microbiota of the skin and its glands.

In search of a means to combat osmidrosis, the staff of the California and Ghent Universities invited twins to participate in a pilot experiment, one of whom suffered from this condition, and the other had a pungent odor. The first of them was offered to thoroughly wash the armpits with antibacterial soap for four days, the second – not to wash for the same period. After that, a scraping of the skin under the armpits containing a lot of bacteria was taken from a twin with a normal smell of sweat, and the armpits of the brother were populated with these bacteria.

As a result of such exposure, the unpleasant odor quickly disappeared, and the effect persisted for more than a year of observation.

The scheme of the experiment (figure from the article in Experimental Dermatology).

Having obtained a similar result, the scientists repeated the experiment on 17 volunteers with osmidrosis, whose microbiota donors were the closest relatives with a normal smell of sweat. The results of treatment were evaluated by a "prepared smell council" of eight people.

The condition of 16 volunteers improved significantly within a month. Half of them got rid of the unpleasant smell for a period of three months or more.

Currently, researchers are developing a universal mixture of bacteria that can be used instead of donor microbiota. "The experiments are still in the early stages, but I'm sure it will work," said Chris Callewaert, the head of the work.

Transplantation of healthy microbiota has been of interest to scientists for decades. The most promising works in this direction are devoted to fecal transplantation from donors with a normal intestinal microbiome to patients with its disorders, primarily with pseudomembranous colitis, which is caused by antibiotic-resistant strains of Clostridium difficile. For these purposes, several countries have already created fecal banks for examination and transplantation, although such treatment does not always produce the desired effect.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  13.02.2017