Dr. Chris Callewaert from the Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology, will present “The Science of Body Odor: The Armpit Microbiome” at the Food for Health Seminar Series.

Summary: Dr Armpit has stuck his nose under more than 1000 armpits and can identify bacteria based on odor. Fresh sweat does not smell. Malodor is caused by microbial transformation of sweat into volatile compounds. In this presentation, we show the results of the axillary microbiomes of 200 subjects with self-assessed underarm body odor. A high underarm diversity, as well as the presence of Corynebacterium, Anaerococcus, Peptoniphilus, Moraxella, and others, were correlated with malodor formation. Underarm odor development was also impacted by gender, body mass index, age and nutrition. Subjective underarm body odor was associated with self-reported functional impairment and relationship interference.
Personal care products last for weeks on the skin and produce highly individualized responses, including alterations in steroid and pheromone levels and in bacterial ecosystem structure and dynamics. Antiperspirants sharply increase the underarm bacterial diversity and can lead to a shifted microbiome with more malodor-associated bacteria. The half-lives of certain antiperspirant ingredients on skin are up to 2 weeks.
Dr Armpit came with the solution: underarm microbiome transplants. This was tested on 17 subjects and successfully induced a healthy and non-odorous bacterial microbiome over one month, improving underarm odor. In a next step, he tested underarm bacteriotherapy, in which single strains are supplied in the underarm on a daily basis. This was successful from the first day, shifted the underarm microbiome and led to an improved underarm odor for 63 people in a clinical trial. The findings demonstrate how axillary microbiome dysbiosis is associated with malodor and that changing the microbiome improves the odor.



Reception: 30 minutes prior
Zoom will be offered-> https://unl.zoom.us/j/310580348 Meeting ID: 310 580 348