Calprotectin may be positively associated with the severity of acne vulgaris

Abstract

Background and objective: Acne vulgaris (AV) is a common skin disease of sebaceous hair follicles. Many factors are associated with the occurrence and severity of acne, while the exact etiology remains incompletely understood. The current study was aimed to investigate the association between the severity of acne and serum zinc, copper, and calprotectin. Methods: Fifty patients with AV were recruited in the study as well as 25 healthy age and sex-matched individuals as controls. The acne severity was classified into mild (n=21), moderate (n=16), and severe acne (n=14) according to the global acne grading system (GAGS). Serum levels of zinc, acne and calprotectin were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The gained data were analyzed using GraphPad Prism software. Results: Insignificant difference was found in zinc and copper levels between controls and AV patients, except in severe AV, where the patients displayed significant elevation in serum copper level (p<0.05) as compared to that of mild AV. The calprotectin concentration was significantly higher (p<0.001) in all AV patients, when compared with healthy subjects, which was positively correlated with the disease severity. No gender difference was noted for all measured biomarkers. Conclusions: Our study suggests a possible association between calprotectin and acne inflammation, which requires validation in large-scale studies.