ABSTRACT

Background:

Inflammatory Acne vulgaris (IAV) involves colonization of Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes). P. acnes up-regulates of neutrophils, monocytes and lymphocytes with several cytokines being released locally.

Objectives:

IL-12 is associated with IAV; we investigated whether this association was correlated with the severity of the disease.

Material and Methods:

Sera of 27 patients with IAV and 27 gender and age matched healthy volunteers were enrolled. IL-12 and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured in patients’ sera with enzyme linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA). The level was correlated with the severity of the disease using Global Evaluation Acne (GEA) scale.

Results:

IL-12 serum levels in patients with IAV were significantly higher than controls (p<0.05). But, CRP serum levels in patients with IAV were non-significantly different from control. There was non significant difference as regard relation between IL-12 level and severity of disease (p> 0.05), also, non statistical significant difference as regard relation between CRP level and severity of disease (p> 0.05).

Conclusion:

In IAV, IL-12 may contribute to the host defenses against P. acnes as well as to tissue damage through its various actions of the involved immune cells and inflammatory mediators. Blocking IL-12 production may hold promise therapy in limiting the deleterious effects of IL-12 mediated inflammatory response.