Probiotics may send signals from gut to skin

Much more is known about how probiotics work in the gut, than for the skin, but it seems there are signals coming from gut micro-organisms to the skin and mucosa that may allow interaction between probiotics in the gut and effects on the skin.

At the recent Beauty from Within conference in Paris, Jess Halliday spoke with Professor Christine Lang, managing director of OrganoBalance about the emerging area of probiotics for skin health.

Lang said that OrganoBalance's primary focus is on the topical application of probiotics, but it is also looking into oral applications of probiotics for skin and beauty.

According to Prof Lang, the potential benefits of skin protiotics would depend on how each microorganism is selected, and the specific effects that they have on the skin.

For now, she said that it was important to find how different probiotic microorganisms affect the skin microflora.