Association of serum interleukin-10 (IL-10) with the severity of acne vulgaris

Background: Acne vulgaris is a common inflammatory disorder in pilosebaceous gland units, which affected more than 90% of teenagers, and half of them settled until adulthood. Inflammation is one of the four critical factors in the pathogenesis of acne vulgaris, and it could be a primary process or secondary to Propionibacterium acnes. The immune system has a various anti-inflammatory mechanism to counter-balance inflammatory mediators. One of the potent cytokines that play a role in regulating the inflammatory state is Interleukin-10 (IL-10). This study conducted to determine the association of serum IL-10 with the severity of acne vulgaris.Methods: This is a cross-sectional analytic study involving 33 subjects with acne vulgaris and 31 normal-healthy volunteers as a control. Both groups had their serum IL-10 measured. Acne vulgaris severity was assessed with Lehmann criteria. Anova was used to determine the statistical difference of IL-10 among different groups of acne severity. This study has been approved by the Ethical Committee Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara.Results: The mean serum IL-10 of normal-healthy and acne vulgaris subjects were 5,79 ± 1,23 pg/ml and 5,25 ± 1,55 pg/ml, respectively. Mann-Whitney test showed a significant difference (p=0,029). The mean IL-10 serum levels according to acne vulgaris severity were 6,63 ± 1,94 pg/ml in the mild category; 4,89 ± 0,95 pg/ml in the moderate category and 4,38 ± 0,61 pg/ml in the severe group. ANOVA showed significant difference with p=0,001.Conclusion: There was an association between serum levels of IL-10 with the severity of acne vulgaris.