Aspects of general antimicrobial properties of skin secretions in the common seal Phoca vitulina.

Considerable amounts of several saccharide residues (alpha-D-Man, beta-D-GlcNAc, alpha-D-GalNAc, beta-D-Gal, alpha-D-Gal, alpha-L-Fuc, NeuNAc) are demonstrated by lectin histochemistry in the sections of the sebaceous glands, and, particularly, the apocrine tubular glands of the common seal. These sugars may be liberated on the skin surface by microbial activities and, then, represent a general antimicrobial protection mechanism of the skin because of their ability to inhibit the adherence of different bacteria and fungi to the epidermis.