Eczema: How skin bacteria research may lead to a treatment for itching

Evan Walker
Evan Walker TheMediTary.Com |
A man lifts his shirt to scratch an itch on his sideShare on Pinterest
Experts say constant itching is an unpleasant symptom of eczema. Iuliia Burmistrova/Getty Images
  • Itching is one of the most distressing and poorly understood symptoms of eczema.
  • A recent study used animal models, human tissue, and nerve fibers to investigate the condition’s tendency to produce itching.
  • The researchers concluded that the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus may be an important part of the puzzle.
  • They hope their findings may eventually lead to treatments for a range of skin conditions.

Eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, is one of the most common skin conditions, affecting an estimated 223 million people globally.

One of the dominant symptoms is itch. While scratching can momentarily relieve the sensation, it can also cause skin damage, increase the risk of skin infections, and exacerbate inflammation.

“Itch plays a big part in the quality of life of people with eczema,” explained Carsten Flohr a professor at Kings College London and a member of the British Association of Dermatologists.

“It impacts both the quality of sleep and the amount of sleep people get. It also affects social and working life for adults, and the enjoyment of school for children,” Flohr told Medical News Today.

Andrew Proctor, the chief executive of the National Eczema, says eczema itching is a constant issue for people with the condition.

“For the millions of children and adults with atopic eczema, relentless itch is one of the most difficult things about living with this complex condition,” Proctor told Medical News Today.

“It often leads to the painful ‘itch-scratch cycle,’” he added, “where you scratch to relieve the itch, then the skin is damaged, and it becomes even more itchy, with even greater temptation to scratch.”

There are few long-term treatments that can reliably soothe this type of itching.

However, a recent study published in the journal Cell investigated how a particular skin microbe might drive itch in eczema. Experts hope the results could lead to new treatments.

The skin is considered to be the largest organ of the body and plays a myriad of vital roles.

It protects against pathogens, dehydration, mechanical damage, and ultraviolet light. It also carries receptors that provide sensations such as pain, temperature, and touch.

Importantly for eczema, it also contains receptors called pruriceptors, which produce the sensation of itch.

Like many other parts of the body, the skin is home to a thriving microbial community — the skin microbiome, which contains vast numbers of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes.

Although there is growing interest in the human microbiome, scientists have a long way to go before they understand its complex roles in health and disease.

“Your skin bacteria and skin immune system talk to each other and they talk to the bacteria in your gut. Just like with your gut, having a diverse balance is the key to a happy microbiome,” said Flohr, who wasn’t involved in the recent research.

Understanding how bacteria interact with each other as well as the skin and the immune system may one day help treat various skin conditions.

Medical News Today contacted one of the new study’s authors, Isaac Chiu, an associate professor of immunobiology at Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts. We asked why he decided to study skin microbes and eczema.

“My lab previously found that skin microbes can cause pain when under the skin’s surface. We wondered whether microbes also cause itch,” he said.

So, they investigated.

TAGGED: , , ,
Share this Article