根据2011年12月28日在线发表在《PLoS ONE》期刊上的一篇研究论文，人皮肤上的微生物决定着人对蚊子的吸引程度，这可能对疟疾传染和预防有着重要的影响。
如果没有细菌，人汗液对于人鼻子而言是无味的，因此皮肤上的微生物群落在产生每个人特异性的体味上发挥着关键性作用。
荷兰瓦格宁根大学(Wageningen University)Niels Verhulst领导的一个研究小组对严格上讲是冈比亚疟蚊(Anopheles gambiae)的蚊子开展实验，而已知这种蚊子在疟疾传染上发挥着重要作用。
他们发现如果皮肤上有更加高丰度的但是种类多样性更加低的细菌，那么这个人对这种特定的蚊子更加有吸引力。
他们猜测皮肤上有更加多样性菌群(microbiota)的个人可能含有一组选择性的细菌，它们能够释放化合物从而干扰正常条件下人宿主对蚊子的吸引性，使得这些人更加没有吸引性，因而感染疟疾的风险更低。这些发现可能导致人们开发出预防疟疾的个人化方法。(生物谷：towersimper编译)
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028991
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Composition of Human Skin Microbiota Affects Attractiveness to Malaria Mosquitoes
Niels O. Verhulst, Yu Tong Qiu, Hans Beijleveld, Chris Maliepaard, Dan Knights, Stefan Schulz, Donna Berg-Lyons, Christian L. Lauber, Willem Verduijn, Geert W. Haasnoot, Roland Mumm, Harro J. Bouwmeester, Frans H. J. Claas, Marcel Dicke, Joop J. A. van Loon, Willem Takken, Rob Knight, Renate C. Smallegange
The African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto continues to play an important role in malaria transmission, which is aggravated by its high degree of anthropophily, making it among the foremost vectors of this disease. In the current study we set out to unravel the strong association between this mosquito species and human beings, as it is determined by odorant cues derived from the human skin. Microbial communities on the skin play key roles in the production of human body odour. We demonstrate that the composition of the skin microbiota affects the degree of attractiveness of human beings to this mosquito species. Bacterial plate counts and 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that individuals that are highly attractive to An. gambiae s.s. have a significantly higher abundance, but lower diversity of bacteria on their skin than individuals that are poorly attractive. Bacterial genera that are correlated with the relative degree of attractiveness to mosquitoes were identified. The discovery of the connection between skin microbial populations and attractiveness to mosquitoes may lead to the development of new mosquito attractants and personalized methods for protection against vectors of malaria and other infectious diseases.
