skin integrity and microbiome balance.

Experts offered insights into novel sun protection products designed to shield the skin and mitigate the effects of solar radiation on the skin microbiome. Solar radiation exposure can alter microbiome composition potentially leading to dysbiosis compromised skin barrier function and immune system activation.

Current sun protection methods generally overlook microbiome considerations. Tailored sun protection products that prioritize both skin and microbiome health may offer enhanced defense against solar radiation-induced skin conditions.

The incorporation of topical sunscreens with film-forming properties not only offers effective sun protection but also enhances the skin barrier potentially aiding in the preservation of a healthy microbiome by reducing the penetration of harmful UV radiation and environmental stressors.

Novel sun-protecting products containing pre and probiotics and other beneficial ingredients may potentially help to protect the skin microbiota from SR damages and help to limit the exposome-induced immunosuppression of the host.

There is evidence that UVR destroys substances such as porphyrins which are absorbed in the long UVA range and especially in the visible range and which are produced by several microorganisms including the skin commensal Cutibacterium acnes and Pseudomona aeruginosa. Thus UVR may impact the skin microbiome composition leading to dysbiosis and an altered skin barrier.

Moreover an increased production of natural antimicrobial peptides (AMP) by microbes or AMP produced by keratinocytes and controlled by microbes under exposure UVR may contribute to an altered immune response and a change of the microbial load by affecting the microenvironment. Under UVR stress conditions the microbiome may trigger interleukin-1 and together with directly induced microbial signals influence skin immunity by the release of various cytokines such as that of Th17 pathway. As a result the keratinocyte effector function may be influenced through the production of interleukin-17 resulting in an altered AMP production affecting the microbiome.

Probiotics and Postbiotics are recognized to help in maintaining human health in supporting disease prevention and management and in the future may potentially play a beneficial role in photoprotection. provides a summary of all studies that assessed the benefit of pro and postbiotics as photoprotective ingredients.

Source: https://phys.org/news/2024-06-explores-sun-effects-skin-microbiome.html