Local Researchers Make Advances In Acne Studies

SAN DIEGO, CA – A group of Southern California researchers, including some from UC San Diego, announced Thursday that they have found a possible animal model to research and develop treatments for acne.

In the past, researchers have been hindered from analyzing acne bacteria and how it develops due to a lack of animal models that are similar to human skin. Mice have similar traits, such as a waxy secretion that contributes to acne and increases during puberty called sebum, but the comparisons aren't perfect.

Researchers from UCSD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and UCLA believe they may have found a way to simulate human skin conditions by applying to mice a synthetic sebum made of fatty acid, triglyceride, wax and squalene. The mice were generally unaffected by injections of acne bacteria prior to the sebum application.

Once the mice received both acne bacteria and the sebum, however, the mice grew lesions that looked like human acne and skin inflammation similar to human reactions to acne-causing bacteria. The researchers published the study Thursday in the journal JCI Insight.

"Acne typically occurs when a person hits their teenage years ... What's the difference between a child's skin and a teenager's skin?" said Dr. George Liu, a UCSD professor and chief of the university's Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. "Increased sebum production. And we were surprised to find how such a simple addition made a big difference in our ability to study acne."

The research team plans to continue its study of acne development using the same mouse model. According to UCSD, the team is aiming to obtain similar results by applying the bacteria directly to the skin rather than injecting it.

In the future, Liu believes the research could be used to understand risk factors for acne and how to better tailor acne therapies and vaccines to individual patients.

"Since we know exactly which genes differ between these strains, next we can pinpoint exactly what it is about the acne-associated strains that allows them to cause skin lesions," Liu said. "And that information will help us develop new therapies that specifically block those acne-promoting factors, or tip the balance of a person's skin chemistry in favor of the healthy strains."

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--City News Service