Topical Treatment With an Agent Disruptive to P. acnes Biofilm Provides Positive Therapeutic Response: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

The traditional disease model of acne has been one of follicular plugging due to 'sticky epithelial cells' associated with increased sebum production with deep follicular anaerobic conditions favoring P. acnes- generated inflammation. P. acnes biofilms have been found more frequently in patients with acne than controls. Biofilms are genetically coded to create adhesion to the pilosebaceous unit followed by production of a mucopolysaccharide coating capable of binding to lipid surfaces. Traditional therapies for acne have involved mixtures of oral and topical antibiotics admixed with topical keratolytics and retinoids, which are aimed at traditional bacterial reduction as well as downregulating the inflammatory cascade. These approaches are limited by side effect and compliance/tolerability issues. As the P. acnes biofilm may, in fact, be the instigator of this process, we studied the use of a topical agent designed to reduce the P. acnes biofilm to see if reducing the biofilm would be therapeutically efficacious. We present data of a proprietary topical non-prescription agent with a novel pharmaco mechanism designed to attack the biofilm produced by P. acnes. Our data shows a decrease of inflammatory lesions by 44% and non-inflammatory lesions by 32% after 12 weeks and also provided for a meaningful improvement in the quality of life of the patients in the study. These improvements were achieved with a product that was not associated with burning, chafing, irritation, or erythema, which can be seen with topical treatments. It is apparent from this study that by addressing the biofilm which protects the P. acnes bacteria through the use of the Acne Gel, the incidence of acne symptoms can be greatly reduced, while having no negative impacts on the patients' skin (ClinicalTrials.gov registry number NCT02404285).

J Drugs Dermatol. 2016;15(6):677-683.