The term "exposome" includes all environmental factors that a person is exposed to over their lifetime and collectively led to the development or not of a disease and influence its progression. The concept of the exposome is relevant to all skin diseases, including psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and skin cancer as well as to normal processes such as skin ageing. Exposure spans lifestyle factors like diet, smoking, obesity, sunlight, existing health conditions, and exposure to infectious agents. Those factors affect the cutaneous microbiota and oxidative stress as well as the skin chemical composition, and its ability to initiate and control immune responses. In combination with genetic factors, these environmental influences can increase an individual’s vulnerability to specific skin conditions.

Understanding the exposome from a clinical perspective and integrating internal factors, like genomics, with external influences, such as diet, is essential in advancing personalized medicine for cutaneous disease treatment as well as delaying skin ageing. External environmental factors can directly initiate disease processes, as seen with unhealthy diets can lead to systemic inflammation and activate, for example psoriasis pathways. These external exposures can also influence internal exposome elements; for instance, a high-fat diet may disrupt gut microbiota, which can exacerbate atopic dermatitis through the gut–skin connection. Therefore, oral probiotics are proved to be beneficial in the treatment and prevention of atopic dermatitis by enhancing the overall microbiome balance and immune function, primarily through strengthening the intestinal barrier. Also, in case of skin cancer and skin photoageing, UV radiation remain the driver exposure factor as it leads to disruptions in the redox balance, induction of inflammation, and cutaneous immunosuppression. However, questions remain about whether a variation in the exposome alone is sufficient to manifest a disease phenotype or if genomics is the essential underlying factor.

This Research Topic is looking for contributions regarding and testing exposome traits in skin disease and ageing. We welcome Original Research, Brief Research Report, Methods, Mini Review, Opinion, Perspective, Review, Systematic Review articles which are relevant to but not limited to the following research topics:

• Mechanisms by which exposome traits (diet, pollution, UV exposure etc.) contribute to the development and progression of skin diseases

• The interplay between inner and outer exposome and how this interrelation affects skin ageing

• The role of exposome in defining a unique treatment approach – personalized medicine in skin diseases

• The significance of holistic approach towards inflammatory dermatoses

• Models that assess individual risk of developing skin diseases based on exposome data – use of AI in predicting disease initiation and progression

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Frontiers in Genetics

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