Defi cient Production of Hexadecenoic Acid in the Skin Is Associated in Part with the Vulnerability of Atopic Dermatitis Patients to Colonization by Staphylococcus aureus

alyzed following hydrolysis). The lower level of free C16: 1 6 correlated signifi cantly (R 2 = 0.41, p ! 0.01) with the numbers of S. aureus colonizing nonlesional skin. Topi-cal application of free C16: 1 6 on the skin of AD patients for 2 weeks abolished the markedly increased bacterial count in 6 out of the 8 AD patients tested. Conclusions: Free C16: 1 6 may be involved in the defense mechanism against S. aureus in healthy skin and this defi cit triggers the susceptibility of the skin to colonization by S. aureus in AD. Copyright © 2005 S. Karger AG, Base