Untargeted metabolomics analysis of the plasma metabolic signature of moderate-to-severe acne

Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease of pilosebaceous units and sebaceous glands. This study aimed to find out metabolites and metabolite pathways abnormal in moderate-to-severe acne vulgaris patients. The plasma metabolites LC-MS/MS analysis was conducted on 30 moderate-to-severe acne patients and 32 healthy controls. Multivariate data analyses were applied to identify the distinguishing metabolites. Totally, 63 significant differential metabolites and 40 metabolic pathways were significantly changed. The top 3 metabolites on the basis of their VIP scores obtained from the PLS-DA were 2-Oxoadipic acid, Myo-inositol and Citrate. In addition, four sphingolipid metabolites include sphinganine, sphingosine, O-Phosphoethanolamine, and sphingomyelin (d18:1/18:0) were identified. The most closely related metabolic pathways included ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters and sphingolipid signaling pathway in moderate-to-severe acne patients. The observed difference in metabolic profiles between acne patients and healthy controls provides a new insight into the link between plasma metabolic changes and acne vulgaris.