Staphylococcus epidermidis in the human skin microbiome mediates fermentation to inhibit the growth of Trichophyton rubrum

• Main Authors: Jian-Hong Zou, 鄒健宏
• Other Authors: Chun-Ming Huang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/46357657586951778777

碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 生命科學系 === 104 === Dermatophytes are a type of fungal infections on human nails. Trichophyton rubrum (T. rubrum) causes over 90% of dermatophytes in humans. By nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis, we demonstrated that Staphylococcus epidermidis, a commensal bacterium in the human skin microbiome, could mediate the fermentation of glycerol to produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). To examine if S. epidermidis fermentation affects the growth of T. rubrum, the S. epidermidis bacteria were grown on agar plates in the presence or absence of glycerol, a naturally occurring metabolite found in human skin, right before growing T. rubrum in the overlaid agar. Only S. epidermidis grown showed visible inhibitory effects against T. rubrum, In addition, T. rubrum was treated with antifungal terbinafine in the presence or absence of alpha-lactose monohydrate (ALM) and/or S. epidermidis. We found that ALM can reduce the effective concentration of terbinafine against T. rubrum, suggesting that S. epidermidis mediates ALM fermentation to enhance the antifungal activity of terbinafine. Our data infer that skin commensal bacteria may undergo fermentation to ward off the fungal infection. Results of this study may lead to new strategies for treatments of T. rubrum-associated skin diseases inducing tinea capitis, tinea corporis, and deep dermal T. rubrum infections.