Ultrafine bubble showers may help prevent allergic atopic dermatitis (AD), according to a study in mice.
For the study, researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University in Osaka, Japan, sprayed ultrafine bubbles, often used to clean medical equipment, on mice with AD.
In mice with AD due to external factors, inflammation was markedly suppressed when the affected skin was showered with ultrafine bubbles, while normal showers also showed some positive results. Additionally, the ultrafine bubble showers improved the levels of proteins in the skin that act as a protective barrier. For mice with AD caused by genetic factors, however, there were no significant differences even compared to mice who were not showered.
“The results of this study suggest that ultrafine bubble shower treatment might be a new treatment for allergen-induced atopic dermatitis for humans, but this study was conducted on mice and the shower treatment period was short, only a week or two,” says study author Graduate School of Medicine student Ayaki Matsumoto.
“From now on,” Associate Professor Hisayoshi Imanishi adds, “it will be necessary to conduct ultrafine bubble shower therapy for several months on human patients to examine the effects.”
The findings were published in Frontiers in Immunology.
PHOTO CAPTION: The amount of inflamed skin showed a reduction in some mice with atopic dermatitis after undergoing treatment with regular and ultrafine bubble showers.
PHOTO CREDIT: Osaka Metropolitan University
