Research preprinted in iScience explores the skin microbiome's role in mitigating the immune-suppression effects of UV on skin.
According to these authors, UV is known to induce significant changes in skin, including modulating its immune response. However, the role of the microbiome in UV-induced immune suppression had not apparently been explored.
The authors employed the standard model of contact hypersensitivity to compare reactions in sterile, germ-free mice; i.e., totally devoid of microbiome, with specific pathogen-free (SPF) mice. They discovered, in the SPF mice, the skin microbiome inhibited UV-induced immune suppression.
Collectively, the results suggested the skin microbiome provided immune protection by orchestrating local cellular and innate immune responses to UV via modulating gene expression and the cellular microenvironment of the skin.
Editor's note: This information was extracted from a manuscript accepted for publication but not yet finalized.
