Antimikrobielle Pharmaka und Hautoberflächenlipide

Antimicrobial Pharmaca and Skin Surface Lipids Saprophytic skin flora cause alterations of skin surface lipids by lipolysis of triglycerides and esterification of cholesterol. Microbial lipolysis occurs on the hairless skin almost exclusively in the infundibulum of sebacic glands, and on the hairy scalp, in addition, at the surface of skin and hairs. Responsible for this are mainly propioni bacteria, and, in the hairy head, the fungus Pityrosporon ovale. Bacterial esterification of cholesterol occurs mainly at the superficial perifollicular region by the action of S. epidermidis. A series of antimicrobial substances, that are contained in hair cosmetics, cause a decrease in the proportion of free fatty acids in the lipids of scalp and hair. Bacterial lipolysis in infundibulum can be influenced only when the antimicrobial agent penetrates the infundibulum, which does occur easily in systemic and local therapy. Literature on such effects of pharmaca is reviewed.