. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 Feb 7.

Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Microbiol. 2022 Aug 30;21(2):97–111. doi: 10.1038/s41579-022-00780-3

Table 1 |.

Staphylococcus epidermidis and its molecular products in therapeutic applications

Application	Treatment	Description	Refs.
Prebiotic	Sucrose	Increased Staphylococcus epidermidis fermentation and production of short-chain fatty acids, which inhibit Cutibacterium acnes	¹⁴⁷
	Poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate	Increased S. epidermidis fermentation and production of short-chain fatty acids, which inhibit MRSA	¹⁶⁷
	Colloidal oat^a	Increased S. epidermidis growth, lactic acid production Increased lactic acid levels on moderate to severe dry skin of human volunteers	¹⁶⁸
	Lactobacillus brevis ^a	Topically applied cream extract promoted S. epidermidis growth and improved skin barrier function in human volunteers	¹⁶³
Probiotic	Alanine auxotroph	Colonization of human skin explants maintained by addition of alanine Proposed for future clinical studies given safety and no requirement for antibiotics	¹⁶¹
	AMP stimulator	Skin and nasal keratinocyte AMP stimulation to inhibit pathogen colonization and/or infection	Skin^{59, 64}
	AMP stimulator	High dependency on which S. epidermidis strain is applied	Nose¹⁵³
	Co-application^a	Staphylococcus hominis and S. epidermidis lantibiotic strains in formulated lotion decreased S. aureus colonization in atopic dermatitis lesions of human volunteers	¹³⁰
	Esp producer^a	Nasal S. aureus decolonization in human volunteers	^154,155
	6-HAP producer	Strain-dependent expression, reduced tumour incidence in mice exposed to repeated ultraviolet B radiation	⁵²
Postbiotic	Lyophilized bacteria^a	Strains isolated from patients, lyophilized and reapplied in cream Increased skin hydration and lipid content in human volunteers	¹⁵⁹
	Bacteriocins and lantibiotics	Selective host range to kill pathogens, but not clinically validated	^132,136,169
	Proteases	Esp protease inhibited S. aureus biofilm	Esp^154,155
	Proteases	Sphingomyelinase increased skin barrier hydration, and expression was detected on arms/faces of human volunteers	Sphingomyelinase⁴⁶
	Small molecules	6-HAP inhibited tumour proliferation	6-HAP⁵²
		AIPs decreased S. aureus virulence	AIPs¹²⁴,¹²⁵
		6-Thioguanine inhibited S. aureus purine biosynthesis	6-Thioguanine¹³⁹

6-HAP, 6-N-hydroxyaminopurine; AIP, autoinducing peptide; AMP, antimicrobial peptide; MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Treatment has been performed on human volunteers.