PERSPIRING might not be socially acceptable, but it turns out to be part of
our frontline defences against bacteria.
The skin is known to release antimicrobial chemicals when wounded. Now Birgit
Schittek and her team at the University of Tübingen in Germany have
discovered that even intact skin exudes a small antibiotic protein called
dermcidin in sweat. “This is the first antimicrobial compound in sweat ever to
be described,” Schittek says.
Her group tested dermcidin against four common species of bacterium. All of
them died, says Schittek, including the potentially lethal bugs E. coli
and Staphylococcus aureus. These species…
