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Characterize Microbiota Metabolism on Scalp with Phylogene

June 21, 2021

Gilbert SKORSKI – CEO

Romuald ARNAUD – Business Development Manager

Skin including the scalp surface is the largest organ to repel attacks from external agents and functioning as both a physical and immunological barrier, performing a wide range of innate and adaptive immune functions. Its glandular nature and bacteria rich composition is making it prone to inflammation and infections. Dandruff is a recurrent chronic scalp disorder, affecting a large majority of the population worldwide (1).

Several scalp microbiome studies from different populations have revealed the association of dandruff with bacterial and fungal dysbiosis (1, 2). Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis emerged as the core bacterial species, where the former was associated with a healthy scalp and the latter with dandruff scalp. Along with the commonly occurring Malassezia species (M. restricta and M. globosa) on the scalp, a strikingly high association of dandruff with yet uncharacterized Malassezia species was observed in the core mycobiome (2).

Eventhough the usage of high throughput next generation sequencing with associated bioinformatics has paved the way for better understanding of scalp-related disorders, the functional role of scalp microbiota in scalp disorders and health remains poorly explored and documented. Metagenomic analysis such as 16s ribosomal gene sequencing provided so far, tremendous insights into taxa’s ecosystem. Metaproteomic analysis could unravel functional interactions between microbiota and hosts, paving the way for understanding the mechanisms of action underlying the pathophysiology of scalp-related disorders.

Omics with associated bioinformatics are the latest technologies to fill the gap in host / microbiome studies.

With PHYLOGENE it is now possible to characterize and understand microbiota metabolism on skin and scalp, starting just from our swabs.

High-resolution nano LC-MS/MS quantitative proteomics and HolXplore™ data processing: The efficient tool for discovery

Bacterial 16s rDNA and fungal ITS sequencing with OTU based estimation to investigate microbial communities diversity and determine taxonomic composition.

1- Longitudinal study of the scalp microbiome suggests coconut oil to enrich healthy scalp commensals, Rituja Saxena et al, Nature Portfolio 2021

2- Comparison of Healthy and Dandruff Scalp Microbiome Reveals the Role of Commensals in Scalp Health, Rituja Saxena et al, Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol., 04 October 2018

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