Serum catestatin levels in patients with acne vulgaris: single-center prospective study

Abstract

Abstract Recent studies showed that antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are essential in the pathogenesis of acne vulgaris. This study aims to investigate serum catestatin levels, one of the AMPs, in acne vulgaris patients and focuses on the change in serum levels after systemic isotretinoin therapy. 101 acne vulgaris patients and 28 healthy controls were included in this prospective study. Serum catestatin levels between acne vulgaris and control group patients were compared. Also, serum catestatin levels were measured again at the 24th week of isotretinoin therapy and compared with treatment onset. The serum catestatin levels in patients with acne vulgaris were found to be statistically higher than in the control group (p<0,001). In addition, serum catestatin levels were associated with the severity of acne vulgaris and significantly decreased after 24 weeks of systemic isotretinoin treatment. In conclusion, it can be proposed that increased inflammation and P. acnes colonization are the underlying reasons for high serum catestatin levels, and catestatin can be a potential therapeutic target in acne vulgaris. Future studies evaluating the levels of different AMPs in both skin samples and patients' sera are needed to establish their roles in the pathogenesis of acne vulgaris and position them in the dermatology routine.