Identification of a higher C–S lyase activity of Staphylococcus hominis in volunteers with unpleasant axillary odour

Objective

Excessive and unpleasant odours that emanate from the skin can induce bromhidrosis and substantially impair a person's quality of life. Enzymatic pathways generating unpleasant odours are well detailed, and among them, the C–S lyase is one of the enzymes involved in the conversion of non-volatile precursors into thiol-type malodorous volatile molecules such as 3M3SH. This study aimed to investigate the variation of axillary odour intensity correlated with Staphylococcus (S.) hominis C–S lyase activity within a group of volunteers after a physical activity.

Methods

First, a group of 24 volunteers from the same ethnicity with standardized hygienic and alimentary practices participated in a supervised indoor cycling activity. Following this session, worn T-shirts were recovered to enable the olfactory evaluation of axillary odours by qualified experts. To go further, the microbiota from the axillary zone of each volunteer was sampled and the bacterial relative abundance was investigated by using 16S rRNA metasequencing. Then, S. hominis isolates were obtained by culturomics from these microbiota samples and the C–S lyase activity was measured by spectrofluorometry in protein crude extracts.

Results

The evaluation of the odour intensity revealed that within the panel, two groups were significantly distinct. A non-odorous group and a malodorous one with volunteers having unpleasant odours. The 16S rRNA metasequencing reveals differences in bacterial communities between the two groups with a significant increase in the relative abundance of S. hominis in the malodorous group compared with the non-odorous one. The C–S lyase activities measured on S. hominis sampled on volunteers from the two groups demonstrate that for an equivalent quantity of protein, this enzymatic activity is significantly higher for the samples originating from the malodorous group.

Conclusion

Hence, this study demonstrates that beyond the increase of S. hominis relative abundance, the C–S lyase enzymatic activity of this bacteria is also higher in volunteers with unpleasant axillary odours.