Abstract
Skin microbial flora was collected from the skin surface of the cheek and the former forehead of healthy men and women, and quantification and identification of the bacilli were performed. When the number of aerobic bacteria was compared between the sampling regions, the higher numbers of aerobic bacteria were detected in the cheek than the forehead in men. On the contrary, the higher numbers of aerobic bacteria were detected in the forehead compared to the cheek in women. Isolation and identification of the aerobic bacteria showed that Staphylococcus epidermidis was dominant in these samples. S. epidermidis was detected from all 48 subjects, and the detection rate was 100%. When the number of anaerobic bacteria was compared between the sampling regions, the higher numbers of anaerobic bacteria were detected in the forehead than the cheek both in men and women. Isolates from men contained higher numbers of anaerobic bacteria than those from women in both sampling regions. Propionibacterium acnes was a dominant species in these samples. P. acnes was detected from all 48 subjects, and the detection rate was 100%. Staphylococcus capitis, which belongs to aerobic bacteria, was detected in 17 men among 19 men, while it was detected in only one woman among 29 women. Thus, the differences of species types in the aerobic bacteria were observed between men and women. Study of the enzyme activity of S. epidermidis, the dominant species of the aerobic bacteria, showed that these activities were differed for samples from every subject, and were differed also for the bacteria collected from the same subject. The rate of subjects which had S. epidermidis with acetoin production ability was decreased along with aging. On the contrary, the rate of subjects which had S. epidermidis with urease activated ability was increased along with aging.
