Environmental, inflammatory, and anti-inflammatory squad in acne vulgaris pathogenesis: AhR, IL-36, and IL-38
Fatma Mohamed El Esawy MD
Dermatology, Venereology and Andrology, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Egypt
Search for more papers by this authorShuzan Ali Mohammed MD
Medical Biochemistry &Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Egypt
Search for more papers by this authorEbtesam Nasar Zargon Nasar MBB Ch
MBB Ch Faculty of Medicine, Sirte University, Libya
Dermatology, Venereology and Andrology Department, Ibn Sina Hospital, Sirte, Libya
Search for more papers by this authorSara Hemdan Mostafa MBB Ch
MBB Ch Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Egypt
Dermatology Department, Benha Children Hospital, Egypt
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Doaa M. Elhabak MD
Dermatology, Venereology and Andrology, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Egypt
Correspondence
Doaa Mohamed Elhabak, Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Andrology, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, 13511, Egypt.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorFatma Mohamed El Esawy MD
Dermatology, Venereology and Andrology, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Egypt
Search for more papers by this authorShuzan Ali Mohammed MD
Medical Biochemistry &Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Egypt
Search for more papers by this authorEbtesam Nasar Zargon Nasar MBB Ch
MBB Ch Faculty of Medicine, Sirte University, Libya
Dermatology, Venereology and Andrology Department, Ibn Sina Hospital, Sirte, Libya
Search for more papers by this authorSara Hemdan Mostafa MBB Ch
MBB Ch Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Egypt
Dermatology Department, Benha Children Hospital, Egypt
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Doaa M. Elhabak MD
Dermatology, Venereology and Andrology, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Egypt
Correspondence
Doaa Mohamed Elhabak, Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Andrology, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, 13511, Egypt.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Background
Acne vulgaris (AV) is an extraordinarily common skin condition. The high prevalence of AV is linked to the exposure factors, as environmental pollutants and climatic factors, occupational, psychosocial, and lifestyle factors. The AhR plays a critical part in environmental toxic action. The AhR expression and imbalance in the IL-36 & 38 expression may have a role in inflammation and AV pathogenesis.
Aims
To detect possible links between environmental, inflammatory, and anti-inflammatory factors in AV pathogenesis through measuring AhR, IL-36, and IL-38 mRNA gene expression levels.
Patients and Methods
Total of 100 subjects (70 AV patients and 30 apparently healthy control subjects) were tested for AhR, IL-36γ, and IL-38 mRNA levels by quantitative real-time PCR.
Results
The median levels of AhR and IL-36 mRNA gene expression were considerably greater, while that of IL-38 was essentially lower in AV than healthy subjects (p < 0.001, 0.021 and 0.002, respectively). The AhR and IL-36 mRNA gene expression levels increased, while IL-38 decreased significantly with higher grades of severity (p < 0.001, 0.001, and <0.001, respectively). ROC curve showed that AhR mRNA gene expression level had the best AUC for diagnosis of AV, with better sensitivity and specificity than IL-36 and IL-38.
Conclusions
Higher levels of AhR, IL-36, and lower levels of IL-38 gene expression were significantly associated with AV patients and higher grades of severity. AhR had better diagnostic ability than IL-38 and IL-36.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors have declared that they have no conflict of interest.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Data available on request due to privacy/ethical restrictions.
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