Why microbes love ‘hot spots’ on the human body

(HealthDay News) — Grandma always knew: Certain parts of the body are “hot spots” for microorganism bad.

The authors of a new study call this concept “Grandma’s What If”in honor of grandma’s warning about cleanliness behind the earstested by students in the genomics course at George Washington University (GW) in Washington, D.C.

Researchers proved what grandma knew all along: The skin behind your ears and between your toes may contain unhealthy bacteria. The collection of microorganisms living in the body is called the microbiome.

It has certain effects on human health. The skin microbiome differs between dry, moist and oily areas. So the students set out to test this hypothesis. Keith Crandall, director of the Institute for Computational Biology at George Washington University, recalls that his own grandmother always told the children in her family, “They are rubbed behind the ears, between the toes and in the belly button.

Crandall believes these hotspots are typically cleaned less frequently than the skin on the arms or legs and may harbor different types of bacteria. He designed the genomics course with Marcos Pérez-Losada, associate professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics. Among them, 129 graduate and undergraduate students learned how to collect their own data by taking samples from certain hot, humid, and oily areas: behind the ears, between the toes, and in the belly button.

They took samples from the calves and forearms as control areas. The students then learned how to extract DNA from skin samples and sequence them, finding that areas that were cleaned more frequently, such as the forearms and lower legs, had greater diversity than samples taken from so-called hotspots, and therefore likely had more DNA. Healthy microbiome. .

Certain microbes can take over the microbiome and cause unhealthy conditions, such as eczema or acne, Crandall said in a university news release. The students’ findings suggest that cleansing habits can change the microorganisms that live on your skin, thereby changing your skin. Crandall said this study, along with previous studies by the same team, may provide a benchmark for future research.

Research into how skin microbes contribute to health or disease is in its early stages, Crandall said. The findings were recently published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.

More information The U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute has more about the microbiome.

Source: George Washington University, press release, September 28, 2023.

*Cara Murez. HealthDay Reporter © The New York Times 2023