Tatsuya Dokoshi, Yang Chen, Kellen J Cavagnero, Gibraan Rahman, Daniel Hakim, Samantha Brinton, Hana Schwarz, Elizabeth A Brown, Alan O'Neill, Yoshiyuki Nakamura, Fengwu Li, Nita H Salzman, Rob Knight, Richard L Gallo
The composition of the microbial community in the intestine may influence the functions of distant organs such as the brain, lung, and skin. These microbes can promote disease or have beneficial functions, leading to the hypothesis that microbes in the gut explain the co-occurrence of intestinal and skin diseases. Here, we show that the reverse can occur, and that skin directly alters the gut microbiome. Disruption of the dermis by skin wounding or the digestion of dermal hyaluronan results in increased expression in the colon of the host defense genes Reg3 and Muc2, and skin wounding changes the composition and behavior of intestinal bacteria...
April 8, 2024: Nature Communications