title: Increased in situ expression of melanocortin-1 receptor in sebaceous glands of lesional skin of patients with acne vulgaris.
abstract: Central or peripheral stress may induce the development of clinical inflammation in the pilosebaceous unit, leading to the development of acne lesions or to exacerbation of pre-existing acne. Melanocortin peptides such as alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone and its receptors do not only regulate melanogenesis but can also affect non-pigmentary processes, such as inflammation, apoptosis and sebogenesis. The purpose of the study was to investigate by immunohistochemistry if changes of melanocortin-1 receptor expression exist in acne lesions versus normal skin. In all, 33 patients with acne vulgaris and seven age-matched volunteers without acne participated in the study. Skin biopsies were taken from acne-involved faces, the non-involved thigh skin of the same patients and from normal human skin. Melanocortin-1 receptor immunoreactivity was most prominently detectable in adnexal structures. Sebocytes and keratinocytes of the ductus seboglandularis of acne-involved and non-involved skin showed very intense melanocortin-1 receptor expression in contrast to less intense scattered immunoreactivity in normal skin samples. These data suggest that melanocortin-1 receptor is involved in the pathogenesis of acne.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Dermatovenereology, Vilnius University Hospital, Santariskiu Klinikos, Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Ruta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ganceviciene
authors.forename: Vida
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Graziene
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Böhm
authors.forename: Christos C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Zouboulis
mesh_terms: D000152:Acne Vulgaris / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005145:Face / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D044102:Receptor, Melanocortin, Type 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D012627:Sebaceous Glands / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D044102:Receptor, Melanocortin, Type 1