Abstract:
OBJECTIVE To investigate the pathogenic bacteria of skin lesions infection in patients with acne vulgaris, analyze the expression of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) p50 mRNA, NF-κB p65 mRNA, substance P (SP) and nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) and their relationships with the severity of acne vulgaris.
METHODS A total of 71 patients of acne vulgaris with infected skin lesions treated in Fujian Provincial Hospital from Jan. 2020 to Dec. 2022 were selected as the study group, and 73 patients without infected lesions were as the control group. According to the severity, the study group was divided into mild-moderate (41 cases) and severe group (30 cases). The distributions of pathogenic bacteria in the study group were analyzed in the study group; expressions of NF-κB p50 mRNA, NF-κB p65 mRNA, SP and NLRP3 were compared among the different groups; the correlations of NF-κB p50 mRNA, NF-κB p65 mRNA, SP, NLRP3 levels with the severity of infected lesions were analyzed by Spearman; the diagnostic values of NF-κB p50 mRNA, NF-κB p65 mRNA, SP and NLRP3 were analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.
RESULTS A total of 71 strains of anaerobic bacteria were detected in the infected skin lesions of the study group, mainly were Propionibacterium acnes (69.01%), followed by Staphylococcus epidermidis(15.49%). The levels of NF-κB p50 mRNA, NF-κB p65 mRNA, SP and NLRP3 in study group 2.04±0.63, 4.01±1.23, (87.98±23.39) ng/ml, 3.25±1.03, respectively were higher than those in control group (P < 0.05), while the levels in severe group 2.73±0.88, 4.92±1.54, (102.51±26.67)ng/ml, 3.73±1.14, respectively were higher than those in mild-moderate group (P < 0.05). Expressions of NF-κB p50 mRNA, NF-κB p65 mRNA, SP and NLRP3 were positively correlated with the severity of infected of acne vulgaris (r=0.723, 0.708, 0.695, 0.751, respectively, P < 0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) values of NF-κB p50 mRNA, NF-κB p65 mRNA, SP and NLRP3 combined for infected lesions was 0.919, which was higher than that of single detection (P < 0.05), with the sensitivity 84.51% and specificity 87.67%.
CONCLUSIONS The acne vulgaris patients with skin lesions infection are mainly infected by P.acnes with high expressions of NF-κB p50 mRNA, NF-κB p65 mRNA, SP and NLRP3. The combined detection of the four indexes can improve the diagnosis and correlate with the severity of the infected lesions in acne vulgaris.