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The Skin Microbiome in Pediatric Atopic Dermatitis and Food Allergy
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  • Elizabeth Huiwen Tham,
  • Minghao Chia,
  • Carmen Riggioni,
  • Niranjan Nagarajan,
  • John E. Common,
  • Heidi H Kong
Elizabeth Huiwen Tham
Khoo Teck Puat - National University Children's Medical Institute

Corresponding Author:elizabeth_tham@nus.edu.sg

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Minghao Chia
Genome Institute of Singapore
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Carmen Riggioni
National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
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Niranjan Nagarajan
Genome Institute of Singapore
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John E. Common
Agency for Science Technology and Research
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Heidi H Kong
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
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Abstract

The skin microbiome is an extensive community of bacteria, fungi, mites, and viruses colonizing the skin. Fluctuations in the composition of the skin microbiome have been observed in atopic dermatitis (AD) and food allergy (FA), particularly in early life, established disease, and associated with therapeutics. However, AD is a multifactorial disease characterized by skin barrier aberrations modulated by genetics, immunology, and environmental influences, thus the skin microbiome is not the sole feature of this disease. Future research should focus on mechanistic understanding of how early life skin microbial shifts may influence AD and FA onset, to guide potential early intervention strategies or as microbial biomarkers to identify high-risk infants who may benefit from possible microbiome-based biotherapeutic strategies. Harnessing skin microbes as AD biotherapeutics is an emerging field, but more work is needed to investigate whether this approach can lead to sustained clinical responses.