Scientific interest in the composition and function of the skin’s
microflora (=the skin’s microbiota) is currently experiencing a
revival, and in fact, has become one of the most exciting and
rapidly developing areas in cutaneous biology [2]. A major driving
force for this development has been the discovery that epidermal
keratinocytes have the potential to affect the cutaneous microflora
by producing antimicrobial peptides [3]. Also, recent research
efforts to understand the control of skin barrier functions
unambiguously point to a close link between physical, immunological and cell biological properties of the skin and its microflora
[4,5]. Manipulation of the composition and/or function of the skin
microflora by prebiotic strategies, which, in contrast to antibiotics,
may allow selective inhibition of detrimental and at the same time
preservation and/or stimulation of beneficial bacteria, is therefore
of obvious interest in dermatology