On the ninth episode of The Microbiome Podcast, we talked with Dr. Larry Weiss, Chief Medical Officer of AOBiome. AOBiome is a leading company based in Cambridge, MA that is developing treatments for inflammatory skin conditions. They also have a cosmetic product on the market that consists of Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria that the user applies to the skin twice a day. We discuss both the cosmetic product as well as AOBiome’s approach to treating skin conditions with Dr. Weiss.

AOBiome is offering listeners of The Microbiome Podcast a 25% discount if you order their product before June 29th. The discount code is ami25. Click here to learn more about the product.

Also, as we discussed on last week’s podcast, the AMI is sponsoring a citizen science project where individuals can sequence their vaginal or penile microbiome. To be entered to win a free sampling, enter your information here.

Remember to call in to ask any questions about the microbiome that you would like answered on future podcasts. The number is 518-945-8583.

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For more detailed shownotes, read below:

On this week’s podcast we discussed:

(2:00) Ritter Pharmaceuticals, a microbiome pharmaceutical company that is working on an oral therapy for reducing lactose intolerance symptoms, filed for a $17 million IPO and is becoming a public company. Read more.
(2:30) Seres Health, a microbiome company working on a therapeutic for treating Clostridium difficile infection, also filed for an IPO for $100 million and received Breakthrough status from the FDA. Read more.
(4:55) A study out of NYU found that wearing contact lenses altered the eye microbiome compared to non-contact wearers. Read the abstract.
(9:31) We talked a bit about AOBiome. Learn more about AOBiome. www.aobiome.com
(11:17) Dr. Larry Weiss gave an overview of the skin microbiome and ammonia oxidizing bacteria.
(13:22) An article out of NYU (led the same scientist who led the contact lens study) that studied a group of aboriginal Amerindians and found that they had perfect skin and still contained ammonia oxidizing bacteria on the skin. Read our blog post about the study.
(16:34) Dr. Weiss discussed the goals of AOBiome and how they are approaching the skin microbiome.
(18:55) AOBiome’s cosmetic product that applies ammonia oxidizing bacteria to the skin. Learn more about the product. There is a discount code for our listeners for 25% off - ami25.
(26:00) Larry mentioned a Ted Talk about combatting smelly armpits. Watch the TED Talk.
(29:18) AOBiome’s therapeutic research areas and specifically acne.
(32:25) Eczema and how the microbiome could be used to treat the condition.
(39:15) Bacterial vaginosis and AOBiome’s approach to this infection.
(42:51) Larry’s career going from a company called CleanWell, an antimicrobial company, to AOBiome, a company that administers bacteria to the body.
(45:25) Hang hygiene and hand washing and Larry mentioned a study from the US Navy that found washing hands lowered the risk for getting a respiratory illness. Read the study.
(50:16) On the aftershow, we discussed hand washing, whether we wear glasses or contacts, and Lebron James and the NBA finals.

A study published on Monday by the journal Pediatrics has gotten a lot of press this week because it shows a connection between allergies in children and the method by which parents wash their dishes. Parents, especially new parents, often consider good hygiene as one of the most important factors in raising their new child, but according to the hygiene hypothesis it may be true that too much cleanliness actually negatively affects a young child. Asthma, eczema, and other autoimmune diseases are becoming more common conditions in children, and each has been linked to the hygiene hypothesis. Researchers in Sweden reinforced this link when they discovered a possible connection between allergies in children and whether dishes were washed by hand (less clean) or by machine (more clean) in their homes.

The researchers sent a questionnaire to parents of children aged 7-8 which was filled out by 717 families in Molndal, Sweden and 312 families in Kiruna, Sweden. The questionnaire asked many questions pertaining to the children, including previous symptoms of asthma or eczema, method of washing dishes, and if their food was farm grown or fermented. When examining the results it is important to remember that all forms of bias cannot be eliminated when doing surveys, because, among other reasons, it is difficult to get a perfectly random sample.

Results of the study showed that there were lower instances of allergies in children whose families washed their dishes mainly by hand rather than by machine. In addition, this effect was amplified if the children ate food that was either fermented or purchased from a farm (both of which should introduce diverse bacteria to the children). Of course, there were other variables that were not inquired in the questionnaire that are also known to decrease rates of allergies in children, and which may be related to washing dishes by hand, for example a lower socioeconomic status. Then again, the authors suggest that hand washing dishes may reasonably be responsible for these lower rates of allergies in children of lower socioeconomic status.

So, you may be wondering how exactly this pertains to the microbiome. Hand washing dishes cleans less thoroughly than highly efficient machines, which sounds gross, but the exposure to more microbes when you are young may help develop the microbiome and immune system. While this study is not perfect, it still shows us that exposure to bacteria is potentially a good thing for the new and developing microbiome.

Episode 9 of The Microbiome Podcast: The skin microbiome and AOBiome with Dr. Larry Weiss

Hand washing dishes may decrease risk of allergies