What causes skin scratch? New research shows an unknown factor

Scientists are still discovering the mystery of why skin diseases such as eczema cause humans to scratch.

One known cause is inflammation, which worsens when people scratch and their skin is damaged but may have another cause for scratching, according to a study published in Cell magazine Wednesday: a bacteria called Staphiloccus aureus.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School found that the bacteria can directly activate nerve cells in rats.

And what was surprising is that in some situations where there was very little inflammation, we could still see rats scratching. It turns out that the reason is that bacteria were operating directly on nerve fibers that produce scratching”, said a co-author of the study, Isaac Chiu, an associate professor of immunology at Harvard Medical School.

Before the study, scientists were aware that S. Aureus was connected to the specimen, but the exact link was unclear.

The new research revealed that S. Aureus invades the skin of a mouse, it releases an enzyme called V8, reports NBC news, broadcasts Klankosova.tv.