Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2010:2010:858176.
doi: 10.1155/2010/858176. Epub 2010 Aug 25.

Lipid mediators in acne

Monica Ottaviani  1 , Emanuela Camera, Mauro Picardo
Affiliations
Review

Lipid mediators in acne

Monica Ottaviani et al. Mediators Inflamm. 2010.

Abstract

Multiple factors are involved in acne pathogenesis, and sebum secretion is one of the main ones. The role sebum plays in acne development has not been completely elucidated yet; however, increasing amounts of data seem to confirm the presence of alterations in sebum from acne patients. Altered ratio between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids has been indicated as an important feature to be considered in addition to the altered amount of specific fatty acids such as linoleic acid. Furthermore, particular attention has been focused on squalene peroxide that seems to be able to induce an inflammatory response beyond cytotoxicity and comedones formation. Moreover, recent data suggest that lipid mediators are able to interfere with sebocytes differentiation and sebogenesis through the activation of pathways related to peroxisome proliferators-activated receptors. Understanding the factors and mechanisms that regulate sebum production is needed in order to identify novel therapeutic strategies for acne treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Thin Layer Chromatography of forehead sebum. Triglycerides (TG); Free fatty acids (FFA); Wax esters (WE); Squalene (SQ); Cholesterol esters (CE); Cholesterol (CH).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Characteristic components of sebaceous secretion. Squalene is a lipid exclusive of human sebaceous secretion. Among fatty acids, there are some with a peculiar pattern of unsaturation (sapienic and sebaleic acid) and some with a particular chemical structure (branched fatty acids).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Harris HH, Downing DT, Stewart ME, Strauss JS. Sustainable rates of sebum secretion in acne patients and matched normal control subjects. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 1983;8(2):200–203. - PubMed
    1. Cunliffe WJ. Clinical features of acne. In: Marks R, editor. Acne. London, UK: Martin Dunitz; 1989. pp. 11–75.
    1. Gollnick HPM, Zouboulis CC, Akamatsu H, Kurokawa I, Schulte A. Pathogenesis and pathogenesis related treatment of acne. Journal of Dermatology. 1991;18(9):489–499. - PubMed
    1. Pierard-Franchimont C, Pierard GE, Saint-Leger D, Leveque JL, Kligman AM. Comparison of the kinetics of sebum secretion in young women with and without acne. Dermatologica. 1991;183(2):120–122. - PubMed
    1. Youn S-W, Park E-S, Lee D-H, Huh C-H, Park K-C. Does facial sebum excretion really affect the development of acne? British Journal of Dermatology. 2005;153(5):919–924. - PubMed

Substances