Sebum analysis of individuals with and without acne

Abstract

A pilot study was conducted to compare lipid components of sebum from unaffected and acne-affected individuals. Nine males, 15-20 years old, with no acne, or with moderate to severe acne, were recruited. Facial images were taken with regular, polarized and fluorescent lights for each subject. Skin surface lipids were analyzed following collection of sebum using sebutapes. As expected, the subjects with acne had more (59%) sebum than the control subjects. Free fatty acids were the only lipid group that was reduced in the sebum of acne subjects. The specific lipid that differed the most between the two groups was squalene, which was upregulated in acne subjects by 2.2-fold on a quantitative basis. Squalene also represented a significantly greater proportion of the total sebaceous lipids in acne patients compared to controls (20% vs. 15%). The increase in the amount of squalene could represent a lipid marker for acne prone skin.

Keywords: acne; fatty acid; lipid; sebum; squalene could represent a lipid marker for acne prone skin.

Figures

Figure 1

Fatty acid profiles from lipid fractions. Micrograms of fatty acids obtained from GC-FID analysis. Squalene is co extracted with the WE/ChoE fraction.

Figure 2

Fractionation of lipid classes and fatty acid analysis (FAA). Sebutapes were lipid extracted and the lipid extract was spotted on TLC where fractionation of the major lipid classes took place. The three major lipid fractions (FFA, TG, WE/ChoE) were subsequently prepared for GC-FID analysis.

Figure 3

Quantitative lipid analysis.

Figure 4

Qualitative lipid analysis.

Figure 5

Comparative analysis of acne affected and control groups of different age.