3. Discussion
TNF-α, eczema, psoriasis
SKIN CONDITION, PATHOGENESIS, ECZEMA, PSORIASIS
This study investigated the effect of SXRG84 treatment on a range of inflammatory skin conditions. Although there were no significant skin improvements across the whole cohort, there were significant results for inflammatory cytokine reduction. A subset of participants experienced improvements in skin outcome measures. The microbiome assessment yielded a more complex picture.Whilst the study was not powered for the number of consistent categories of skin conditions, it did indicate an improvement in 27% of thirty-eight psoriasis sufferers and both of two eczema sufferers, although not for the five other skin condition categories (Improvements in inflammatory cytokines were observed when subjects ingested SXRG84. INF-γ, IL-1β and TNF-α were all significantly higher six weeks post placebo vs. post SXRG84 treatment period. Reductions in cytokines could still be observed at twelve weeks after SXRG84 treatment which then crossed to placebo, suggesting a potential carryover or longer-term effect.Improvements in cytokines have been reported previously with intervention trials for inflammatory skin conditions, particularly with probiotic treatment. These cytokine improvements can either be through the reduction of inflammatory cytokines, such as reductions in CRP, TNF-α and IL-6 in psoriasis patients after treatment with At baseline, there was a difference in the gut microbiome between cohorts with and without skin conditions taken from the larger clinical trial [Here, we reported an increase in lactic-acid-producing bacteria Furthermore, we detected differences in dietary intake between those with a skin condition and those without at baseline prior to any intervention treatment. Of note, those presenting with an inflammatory skin condition consumed fewer servings of yoghurt than those without a skin condition. Yoghurt, a fermented dairy product, contains probiotic bacteria, particularly lactic acid bacteria [Three genera increased with SXRG84 treatment and decreased with placebo treatment, namely, There were no significant improvements in skin conditions for the group as a whole; however, a subset of participants did report improvements in their skin. It is unclear as to why a subset of the group responded to treatment and the remainder did not, as there were no apparent differences between the cytokine response or the gut microbiota response. The responders either had psoriasis (To our knowledge, these are the first case reports for dietary seaweed fibre ameliorating symptoms of psoriasis (see Our approach in including multiple skin conditions may have complicated the results by including different conditions that also differed in their presentation of symptoms and the underlying pathogenesis of the condition. Also, the severity of skin condition varied greatly among subjects. Therefore, different conditions and the severity of conditions may respond to the SXRG84 differently; our subset of ‘responders’ were not all from the same category of skin condition.