Exploring Changes in Facial Microbiota of Maskne Patients and Healthy Individuals Before and After Mask Wearing Using 16S rRNA Analysis

Abstract Whether in the field of medical care or in people's daily life and health protection, increased emphasis has been put on the significance of masks. Acne is the most common complication after wearing masks, which is also called as Maskne and has been successfully introduced into the common language,and been a common topic of dermatologist consultations. This study aims to study the microflora changes of Maskne patients and normal people before and after wearing masks. In the summer 2023, we collected a total of 50 samples from 15 Maskne patients and 10 normal people before and after wearing masks for a long time. 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing and identification technology with V3-V4 variable region were adopted to explore the microbiome changes caused by mask-wearing, analyzing the changes in microbial diversity, and making interaction network. LDA effect size analysis and ANOVA t-test were used to find changed microorganisms. After Maskne patients wore masks,the changing degree of their microbiomes was significantly more than those of normal people,with both α diversity and β diversity lower than those of Maskne patients before wearing masks and those of normal people after wearing masks.Co-occurrence network analysis showed that compared with other groups, the network of Maskne patients after wearing masks for a longtime had the lowest connectivity and complexity, but the highest clustering property,while the normal people group was the opposite. Many microbes that are potentially beneficial to the skin decreased significantly after wearing the mask.There was almost no difference in normal people before and after wearing masks.