Bioactive Materials and the Skin Microbiome: Emerging Strategies for Skin Health and Disease

In recent years, advances in human microbiome research have offered new insights into the pathogenesis of skin diseases. The skin, as the body’s largest organ, is not sterile but hosts a complex and dynamic microbial community that coexists with the host. Together, they form the first line of ecological defense, crucial for maintaining the integrity of the skin barrier and immune homeostasis.Clinical studies have identified significant “skin dysbiosis” in the lesional areas of patients across a range of conditions, including atopic dermatitis, acne, psoriasis, chronic wounds, and skin infections. This dysbiosis is not limited to shifts in microbial abundance. It also involves changes in community structure, microbial functions, metabolites, interspecies interactions, and host-microbe signaling. A well-studied example is the imbalance between Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus in atopic dermatitis, where the relative abundance of beneficial commensal bacteria is markedly reduced while pathogenic bacteria proliferate abnormally. Importantly, this relationship is bidirectional: dysbiosis can actively contribute to disease progression, while changes in the skin barrier and local immune environment can in turn reshape the microbiome. In contrast, healthy commensal bacteria help inhibit pathogen growth and support skin health by competing for nutrients, secreting antimicrobial peptides, and regulating local immunity.This Research Topic aims to bring together emerging strategies that use bioactive materials and microbiome-modulating approaches to correct microbial imbalance, restore microbial homeostasis, and support skin health across disease states. We welcome contributions on bioactive materials in the broadest sense, including but not limited to probiotics, postbiotics, microbial metabolites and molecules, antimicrobial peptides, bacterial extracellular vesicles, and biomaterial-based delivery systems for microbiome-targeted interventions. Particular attention will be given to the microbiota-skin barrier-immune axis, covering not only pathogen inhibition but also restoration of microbial homeostasis, reinforcement of barrier integrity, and modulation of local immune responses, across conditions such as atopic dermatitis, acne, psoriasis, chronic wounds, and skin infections.We welcome contributions on how bioactive materials and microbiome-modulating approaches affect the skin microbiota, including studies treating skin-related diseases with these strategies and exploring their mechanisms of action in depth.We welcome the following article types: Original Research, Review, Mini Review, Systematic Review, Case Report, and Perspective. Topic editors: Andong Wang, Natalia Diaz-Garrido, Claudia Suellen Ferro Oliveira Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85576/bioactive-materials-and-the-skin-microbiome-emerging-strategies-for-skin-health-and-disease