Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Acne vulgaris is a common skin disorder among both adolescents and adults. Its multifactorial pathogenesis may include insulin resistance, especially in cases resistant to classical treatment methods. There are few studies which have already proved acne vulgaris development in the course of insulin resistance, however, there are more studies necessary in order to include insulin resistance evaluation in classical acne vulgaris diagnosing and treatment.

Objective: To investigate acne vulgaris development in the course of insulin resistance.

Material and Methods: 41 acne vulgaris patients and 47 healthy age and BMI-matched controls were involved in the study. Glucose and insulin fasting serum levels were obtained from each participant, later HOMA-IR was calculated and insulin resistance was diagnosed in cases with HOMA-IR value over 2.1.

Results: The mean±SD glucose fasting serum level was 94.88±7.731 [mg/dl] in study group and 79.51±7.175 [mg/dl] in control group (P<0.001). The mean insulin fasting serum level was 14.47±6.394 [µIU/ml] in study group and 11.83±4.309 [µIU/ml] in control group (P=0.059). Calculated HOMA-IR mean value in study group was 3.4±1.49 and in control group 2.34±0.909 (P<0.001). Out of 41 patients 32 were diagnosed with insulin resistance (78%) and out of 47 controls 26 were diagnosed with IR (55%) (P=0.026).

Conclusions: HOMA-IR values were found to be statistically higher in acne patients compared to healthy controls. Insulin resistance diagnosis was statistically more common among the group of acne patients compared to controls. Insulin resistance might be an independent factor in acne vulgaris development and should be considered in the process of acne diagnosing and treatment.