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The Potential of Probiotics and Prebiotics for Skin Health

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Textbook of Aging Skin

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Abstract

The skin is one of the body’s main barriers to the outside world. Similar to many other such barriers, the skin is colonized by a variety of microbes; their composition appears to depend on the place of the skin but is also influenced by age. Furthermore, a number of skin diseases are associated with an altered skin microbiota; cause and effect of the different skin microbiota and the disease/condition may not always be clear. There may, thus, be a benefit in changing the composition of the skin microbiota. Some immunological conditions, however, such as atopic dermatitis may actually benefit from a change in the intestinal microbiota through the consumption of probiotics and prebiotics. Also UV induced immune suppression seems to benefit from the consumption of specific probiotics. Furthermore, in animals probiotics have been reported to improve fur health. There are thus opportunities for topical and oral probiotics in improving skin health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Active Nutrition, DuPont Nutrition and Health, 02460, Kantvik, Finland

    A. C. Ouwehand, S. Lahtinen & K. Tiihonen

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  1. A. C. Ouwehand
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  2. S. Lahtinen
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  3. K. Tiihonen
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Correspondence to A. C. Ouwehand .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Procter & Gamble Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Miranda A. Farage

  2. Procter & Gamble Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Kenneth W. Miller

  3. Department Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California, USA

    Howard I. Maibach

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Ouwehand, A., Lahtinen, S., Tiihonen, K. (2015). The Potential of Probiotics and Prebiotics for Skin Health. In: Farage, M., Miller, K., Maibach, H. (eds) Textbook of Aging Skin. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27814-3_77-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27814-3_77-2

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27814-3

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