Amplicon-Based Sequencing and Co-Occurrence Network Analysis Reveals Notable Differences of Microbial Community Structure in Healthy and Dandruff Scalps

The study analyzed the microbial communities on the scalps of 95 individuals in China, comparing those with and without dandruff. It found that dandruff-afflicted scalps had less stable and more complex microbial networks, with a higher abundance of Malassezia species and a notable decrease in Cutibacterium and increase in Staphylococcus. In contrast, healthy scalps had more stable microbial networks with higher co-occurrence of lactic acid bacteria like Lactobacillus, which negatively correlated with other bacteria. The findings suggested that maintaining microbial homeostasis is crucial for scalp health and that targeting Lactobacillus bacteria or using products containing Lactobacillus plantarum could potentially improve scalp health and be more effective against dandruff than antifungal treatments alone.