Abstract
Acne is a common inflammatory disorder of the human skin and a multifactorial disease caused by the sebaceous gland and Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes). This study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of micro-current stimulation (MC) on peptidoglycan (PGN)-treated raw 264.7 macrophages and P. acnes-induced skin inflammation. To specify the intensity with anti-inflammatory effects, nitric oxide (NO) production was compared according to various levels of MC. As the lowest NO production was shown at an intensity of 50 μA, subsequent experiments used this intensity. The changes of expression of the proteins related to TLR2/NF-κB signaling were examined by immunoblotting. Also, immunofluorescence analysis was performed for observing NF-κB p65 localization. All of the expression levels of proteins regarding TLR2/NF-κB signaling were decreased by the application of MC. Moreover, the application of MC to PGN-treated raw 264.7 cells showed a significant decrease in the amount of nuclear p65-protein. In the case of animal models with P. acnes-induced skin inflammation, various pro-inflammatory cytokines and mediators significantly decreased in MC-applied mice. In particular, the concentration of IL-1β in serum decreased, and the area of acne lesions, decreased from the histological analysis. We suggest for the first time that MC can be a novel treatment for acne.
Highlights
Division of Biological Science and Technology, Yonsei University, Wonju 26493, Korea; These authors contributed to this work
We investigated whether micro-current stimulation can suppress toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling and reduce several inflammatory cytokines in PGN treated-macrophage
P. acnes-injected mice began to show signs of inflammation phenotypically on day zero post-injection, such as erythema, which persisted in severity until the end of the experiment, whereas no symptoms were observed in PBS-injected mice
Summary
Division of Biological Science and Technology, Yonsei University, Wonju 26493, Korea; These authors contributed to this work. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of micro-current stimulation (MC) on peptidoglycan (PGN)-treated raw 264.7 macrophages and P. acnes-induced skin inflammation. All of the expression levels of proteins regarding TLR2/NF-κB signaling were decreased by the application of MC. P. acnes-induced skin inflammation, various pro-inflammatory cytokines and mediators significantly decreased in MC-applied mice. Among several known pathogenic mechanisms, it is known that Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes), comedonal bacteria, plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of acne by inducing monocyte and/or macrophages to activate pro-inflammatory mediators [2]. For this reason, there are common treatment options including antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs for acne treatment [3–5]. The most representative treatment would be light and laser therapy such as blue/red light and the 1450 nm diode laser with anti-bactericidal and anti-inflammatory published maps and institutional affiliations
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