Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 25, 2026

Resolving Water, Proteins, and Lipids from In Vivo Confocal Raman Spectra of Stratum Corneum through a Chemometric Approach
Published on: September 26, 2019
Microbiota in healthy skin and in atopic eczema
Giuseppe Baviera1, Maria Chiara Leoni2, Lucetta Capra3
1National Health System Pediatrician ASL RMC-D6, Rome, Italy ; Italian Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology (SIAIP), Atopic Dermatitis and Urticaria Committee, Italy.
Abstract:
The Italian interest group (IG) on atopic eczema and urticaria is member of the Italian Society of Allergology and Immunology. The aim of our IG is to provide a platform for scientists, clinicians, and experts. In this review we discuss the role of skin microbiota not only in healthy skin but also in skin suffering from atopic dermatitis (AD). A Medline and Embase search was conducted for studies evaluating the role of skin microbiota. We examine microbiota composition and its development within days after birth; we describe the role of specific groups of microorganisms that colonize distinct anatomical niches and the biology and clinical relevance of antimicrobial peptides expressed in the skin. Specific AD disease states are characterized by concurrent and anticorrelated shifts in microbial diversity and proportion of Staphylococcus. These organisms may protect the host, defining them not as simple symbiotic microbes but rather as mutualistic microbes. These findings reveal links between microbial communities and inflammatory diseases such as AD and provide novel insights into global shifts of bacteria relevant to disease progression and treatment. This review also highlights recent observations on the importance of innate immune systems and the relationship with normal skin microflora for the maintenance of healthy skin.
Related Concept Videos
The Skin Microbiota
Microbiome of the Eye
Introduction to the Human Microbiota
Development of Human Microbiota
Skin Diseases and Disorders
Gram-positive Staphylococcus spp. and Streptococcus spp. are responsible for many of the most common skin infections. However, many...
Staphylococcal Skin Infections

