A pilot study on serum cutaneous T-cell-attracting chemokine in acne patients: effect of low-fluence long pulsed dye laser therapy

Background Recruitment of Propionibacterium acnes-specific effector T cells, and hence acne pathogenesis, likely involves the cutaneous T-cell-attracting chemokine (CTACK)/ CCL27–CCR10 axis. P. acnes is a porphyrin-containing organism, killed by exposure to long pulsed dye laser (PDL). Objective To evaluate single-session low fluence long PDL for the treatment of mild to moderate acne, with assessment of serum CTACK before and 8 weeks after treatment. Patients and methods Ten patients with mild to moderate acne were administered a single session of low-fluence long nonpurpuric PDL, with clinical evaluation, and assessment of serum CTACK 8 weeks after treatment, compared with controls. Results All patients showed improvement, with an excellent response in 20%, good response in 60%, and fair response in 20%, and a 90% satisfaction rate. Improvement was more recognizable with inflammatory than noninflammatory lesions (P= 0.05). Mild transient hyperpigmentation was reported in two patients. Statistically significant higher CTACK levels were found in patients (whether before or after treatment) than controls (P 0.001). Nevertheless, there was a statistically significant reduction in CTACK levels when comparing between pretreatment and post-treatment levels (P 0.001). Conclusion Low-fluence long PDL seems to be an effective and safe modality for mild to moderate acne, particularly with inflammatory lesions, and tendency toward postinflammatory hyperpigmentation, or acne erythema. Active acne is associated with higher serum CTACK levels compared with controls, which decreased significantly after treatment.