Epidermal lipids and microbiota in healthy skin ageing V1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Determining the critical relationship between human epidermal lipids and microbiota in sustaining healthy skin ageing
IRAS ID
252737
Contact name
Anna Nicolaou
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 4 months, 30 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
As skin ages it grows thinner, and becomes more susceptible to damage, infection and chronic wounds. If we can gain a better understanding of the changes skin goes though as it ages, we may be able to help skin stay healthy for longer. We plan to examine skin lipids and microbiota, and how these change as we age. We will assess skin health in young (aged 18-40) and elderly (aged over 70) healthy volunteers, and take samples of skin lipids and microbiota. We will analyse the profile and quantities of lipids, to see how these change with age, and we will assess the numbers and types of microbiota found on the skin's surface. We will also investigate the relationship between lipids and microbiota, to better understand the sequence of changes as skin ages. Healthy volunteers will be recruited to the study and asked to attend a single clinic session where samples will be taken. Recruitment will take place in the Manchester/Salford area, with adverts placed at Manchester University, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, and in the community. Clinical measurements of skin health will be taken, then adhesive tape strips will sample skin lipids, wet swabs will sample microbiota, and some volunteers will also have biopsies taken to further assess skin health. We also plan to sample a small cohort of frail elderly volunteers to perform a preliminary assessment of the impact of frailty on skin ageing. These volunteers will be identified and recruited through clinics at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust.
Summary of Results
We would like to thank all the participants who volunteered for our study “Determining the critical relationship between human epidermal lipids and microbiota in sustaining healthy skin ageing”.
The study was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and carried out by researchers at the University of Manchester, which acted as the Sponsor. It was also part-funded by an industrial partner – SkinBioTherapeutics. Volunteer recruitment took place at Salford Royal Hospital, between 2019 and 2022, including an interruption of several months when we had to pause our work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We were interested in the question of how healthy skin changes as we age. Our skin protects us against infection and dangers such as sunlight, and helps us regulate our temperature and stay hydrated. However, as we get older, our skin does not function as well, and can become drier, and more vulnerable to damage and infection, even in otherwise healthy individuals.
We know that there is an important relationship between the specialised fat-like molecules (lipids) in our skin, and the bacteria that live on it. Lipids that form part of the skin’s structure, and help it function, also help control which bacteria can live there, either by acting as food for the bacteria, or by antibiotic activity. In return, the bacteria help regulate the skin’s immune system, prevent the growth of “bad” bacteria, and even contribute some lipids of their own that may help keep the skin healthy. We were interested in whether this relationship between skin lipids and bacteria changes as we get older, and whether these changes could help explain why older skin does not function as well as younger skin.
As we were interested in healthy skin, we recruited people with no underlying skin conditions. This was simply an observational study, so there was no intervention – we did not ask the volunteers to take any medication, use any products or change their routine, simply to turn up at the clinic for a single visit so we could get an idea of their day-to-day skin health.
We aimed to recruit 130 volunteers, males and females aged 18-40 and 70+, in order to compare the skin of younger and older volunteers. We used sticky tape to sample the lipids from the outer layer of their skin, we used swabs to sample the bacteria living on their skin, and we took some clinical measurements of their skin health. Some volunteers also chose to have skin biopsies taken, so that we could study the structure of their skin.
The results of the study were very interesting. We found that the amount and type of lipids in the skin change as we get older – older individuals had lower levels of many lipids than younger individuals. This was true in both males and females, but the change was more dramatic in females. There was also a change in the bacteria living on our skin, with altered proportions of different types of bacteria living on older skin. Together, these results show that as we age, our skin changes, and the population of bacteria that live on our skin changes too. In healthy young skin, the lipids act as food for the bacteria, and the bacteria help keep our skin healthy. Changes in the lipids and bacteria as we get older may help explain why our skin becomes less healthy as we age.
We hope that our research will help identify potential ways in which we could intervene to prevent some of the changes in our skin as we age, so that we can maintain healthy skin into older age.
We are already carrying out further research based on the findings of this study. Based on our findings that skin lipids are different in older individuals, and more so in females than males, we want to find out when these changes start to happen. In females, we know that the menopause causes dramatic changes in skin lipids, and we want to find out whether males have a similar dramatic change at some point as they grow older, or whether there is a slower decline. This could help us determine when we should seek to intervene in skin ageing in order to maintain healthy skin for more of our lifespanREC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NW/0107
Date of REC Opinion
11 Mar 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion