Importance of preserving the resident microflora of the skin to improve immunological response.

As an interface with the outside environment, skin is colonized by a diverse collection of microorganisms—including bacteria, fungi, archaea, and viruses, protecting against invasion by more harmful or pathogenic organisms. Skin acts also as an immunological barrier1 by educating the billions of T cells inside the skin. This role is crucial in wounding and infection and for modulating the commensal microbiota that colonizes the skin. Indeed, by means of pattern recognition receptors, such as Toll-like receptors, mannose receptors, and the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor (NOD receptors), keratinocytes continuously sample the microbiota colonizing the skin surface.2 In this view, skin microbiota must be considered as one of the main factors influencing the response to infection since it has been recognized as a necessary element of immunity, being able to regulate the …