科学美国人60秒 SSS Bacteria Might Share the Blame for Eczema（在线收听）

Bacteria Might Share the Blame for Eczema

皮肤湿疹可能是细菌惹的祸

Your skin—like many other parts of your body—is crawling with microscopic critters. "It's a microbial zoo in a sense." Heidi Kong, a dermatology researcher at the National Institutes of Health.

同身体的其他部位一样，你的皮肤上也布满了微小的生物。“在某种意义上，它就像是一个微生物动物园。”美国国立卫生研究院的皮肤学研究员海蒂·孔德说道。

That microbial zoo—and the types of microbes in it—changes over time. Kong and her team observed those changes during a flare-up of eczema—a condition characterized by itchy, inflamed skin. On healthy skin, and on patients with mild eczema, the researchers found a diverse roster of bacterial residents—including a species of Staph bacteria called Staphylococcus epidermidis. But in patients suffering a severe bout of eczema, that diversity was disrupted. And strains of a different Staph species dominated: Staphylococcus aureus.

这一微生物动物园以及其内部的微生物的种类都会随着时间发生变化。孔德和她的研究小组观察了在湿疹爆发的过程中这些微生物所发生的变化。湿疹爆发的特征是皮肤瘙痒，皮肤发炎。研究人员在健康的皮肤以及患有轻度湿疹的病人的皮肤上发现了多种细菌，包括一种叫做“表皮葡萄球菌”的葡萄球菌。但在患有严重湿疹的病人的皮肤上，这种多样性遭到了破坏。另一种葡萄球菌的菌株占了主导地位——金黄色葡萄球菌。

The research team then collected Staph aureus strains from the eczema sufferers and swabbed them on the skin of mice. And that once-healthy mouse skin grew thicker—as it does in eczema—and was invaded by immune-response cells. While not proof, the result suggests that certain strains of Staph bacteria could be culpable in worsening eczema flares. The study is in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

研究小组随后从湿疹患者身上采集了金黄色葡萄球菌菌株，并将其擦拭在小白鼠的皮肤上。随后曾经健康的小白鼠的皮肤就像患了湿疹一样变得更厚了，并且免疫反应细胞作出了反应。虽然没有证据，但结果表明某些葡萄球菌的菌株可能是导致湿疹恶化的帮凶。这项研究发表在《科学转化医学》期刊上。

The genetic technique Kong and her team used—called shotgun metagenomics—gives a detailed snapshot of the microbiome. So it might be used to investigate other skin conditions too.

孔德和她的团队使用的基因技术被称为“猎枪宏基因组”——它还能提供微生物组详细信息的快照。因而它也有可能被用来研究其他的皮肤病。

"For example, acne has been linked with Propionibacterium acne. There's interest in looking at other inflammatory skin diseases, such as rosacea or even psoriasis. So there is the potential to use shotgun metagenomics to study inflammatory skin diseases and even skin cancers, to better understand: what are the microbes that might be there, and what they may be doing."

“例如，痤疮已经与痤疮丙酸杆菌联系在了一起。科学家还有兴趣观察其他炎症性皮肤病，如酒渣鼻（红斑痤疮）或牛皮癣。因此，猎枪宏基因组有可能可以被用来研究炎症性皮肤疾病甚至皮肤癌，它能让科学家更好地了解：病变皮肤中可能存在哪种微生物，以及它们可能在其中起着何种作用。”

And whether certain members of that microbial menagerie might be mistreating the zookeeper.

而且，它还能帮助我们了解是否是微生物动物园中的某些成员在虐待它们的“管理员”。