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
. 2022 Nov;21(11):6209-6214.
doi: 10.1111/jocd.15210. Epub 2022 Jul 19.

The potential role of insulin-like growth factor 1 in acne vulgaris and its correlation with the clinical response before and after treatment with metformin

Waleed Albalat  1 , Hend Darwish  1 , Walaa H Abd-Elaal  1 , Mohamed Hussein AbouHadeed  2 , Reham Essam  1
Affiliations

The potential role of insulin-like growth factor 1 in acne vulgaris and its correlation with the clinical response before and after treatment with metformin

Waleed Albalat et al. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Acne vulgaris (AV) is a complex and multifactorial inflammatory disease affecting the pilosebaceous follicles. Optimum treatment of AV is important to reduce the disease severity and recurrence.

Aim: To evaluate the role of metformin in the treatment of acne vulgaris by reducing the level of insulin-like growth factor 1.

Methods: Fifty patients with AV were included in the study. Their ages ranged from 16 to 30 years, and they had different grades of the disease. IGF-1 levels were measured in all patients before and after the treatment with metformin.

Results: After 4 months of therapy, there was a clinical improvement detected by an improvement in the global acne grading system (GAGS) score and also a significant decrease in IGF-level.

Conclusion: IGF-1 may have an important role in the pathogenesis of acne; also we can presume that oral metformin is an effective and safe line in the treatment of AV.

Keywords: acne vulgaris; insulin-like growth factor 1; metformin.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Tan JK. Psychosocial impact of acne vulgaris: evaluating the evidence. Skin Therapy Lett. 2012;9(7):1-3.
    1. Thiboutot D. Acne: hormonal concepts and therapy. Clin Dermatol. 2010;22(5):419-428.
    1. Damby FW. Acne and diet. Ann Dermatol Venereol. 2008;135:9-11.
    1. Mahmood SN, Bowe WP. Diet and acne update: carbohydrates emerge as the main culprit. J Drugs Dermatol. 2014;13(4):428-435.
    1. Bhate K, Williams HC. What's new in acne? an analysis of systematic reviews published in 2011-2012. Clin Exp Dermatol. 2014;39(3):273-277.

LinkOut - more resources