Study of the correlation between the expression levels of IL-6 and TNF-α, and the severity of acne in acne patients

Objective: To assess the correlation of IL-6 and TNF-α levels and the severity of acne. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 30 normal controls and 114 patients with acne vulgaris before and after 4-week treatments. According to the severity of acne, patients were divided into mild, moderate and severe groups. Chemilunescence was used to measure expression levels of IL-6 and TNF-α. Rusults: The expression levels of IL-6, but not TNF-α, in patients with acne were significantly higher than that in the controls (for IL-6, P0.05). Expression levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were not correlated with the severity of acne (both P>0.05). Conclusions: IL-6 is involved in the inflammatory response in acne, but cannot serve as an indicator of disease severity. Further study is needed to determine the relationship between TNF-α and acne.