Temporal Variation of the Facial Skin Microbiome: A 2-Year Longitudinal Study in Healthy Adults

Background: The human skin microbiome is highly personalized, depending on, for example, body site, age, gender, and lifestyle factors. The temporal stability of an individual’s skin microbiome—its resiliency and robustness over months and years—is also a personalized feature of the microbiome. The authors measured the temporal stability of the facial skin microbiome in a large cohort of subjects. In addition to measuring microbiome dynamics, they tracked facial skin condition using noninvasive, objective imaging and biophysical measures to identify significant facial features associated with temporal changes in microbiome diversity and composition. Methods: The authors used 16S ribosomal RNA amplicon sequencing to track cheek and forehead skin microbiome diversity and composition annually over a 2-year period (2017–2019) in 115 healthy adult men and women. Skin metadata included facial features, such as wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, porphyrins, and skin color tone, as well as biophysical parameters for stratum corneum barrier function, pH, hydration, and elasticity. Results: Across the subject population, the facial skin microbiome composition and diversity were relatively stable, showing minor variation over the 2-year period. However, for some subjects, composition, diversity, and relative abundance of specific organisms showed substantial changes from one year to the next, and these changes were associated with changes in stratum corneum barrier function and follicular porphyrins. Conclusions: For healthy people, facial skin microbiome diversity and composition are relatively stable from year to year. Tracking the temporal changes in the microbiome along with skin phenotypic changes allows for a deeper understanding of the skin microbiome’s role in health and disease. These results should be helpful in the design of longer-term intervention trials with microbiome-based skin care treatments.