Abstract
The object of this study was to discover an alternative therapeutic agent with fewer side effects against acne vulgaris, one of the most common skin diseases. Acne vulgaris is often associated with acne-related bacteria such as Propionibacterium acnes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Some of these bacteria exhibit a resistance against commercial antibiotics that have been used in the treatment of acne vulgaris (tetracycline, erythromycin, and lincomycin). In the current study, we tested in vitro antibacterial effect of chitosan-phytochemical conjugates on acne-related bacteria. Three chitosan-phytochemical conjugates used in this study exhibited stronger antibacterial activity than that of chitosan (unmodified control). Chitosan-caffeic acid conjugate (CCA) showed the highest antibacterial effect on acne-related bacteria along with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC; 8 to 256 μg/mL). Additionally, the MIC values of antibiotics against antibiotic-resistant P. acnes and P. aeruginosa strains were dramatically reduced in combination with CCA, suggesting that CCA would restore the antibacterial activity of the antibiotics. The analysis of fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) indices clearly revealed a synergistic antibacterial effect of CCA with antibiotics. Thus, the median sum of FIC (∑FIC) values against the antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains ranged from 0.375 to 0.533 in the combination mode of CCA and antibiotics. The results of the present study suggested a potential possibility of chitosan-phytochemical conjugates in the control of infections related to acne vulgaris.
Highlights
Acne vulgaris is one of the most commonly observed skin diseases, affecting young adults (11–30 years)
Hydroxycinnamic acids (HAs) with chitosan following the previous method [17,24]. It was assessed for the antibacterial activity of chitosan-phytochemical conjugates against acne-related bacteria
In order to determine its antibacterial effect of chitosan-phytochemical conjugates quantitatively, the antibacterial activity of the chitosan-phytochemical conjugates against acne-related bacteria was investigated using an minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay
Summary
Acne vulgaris is one of the most commonly observed skin diseases, affecting young adults (11–30 years). It can cause permanent physical scarring resulting in intense emotional scars, which might lead to clinical depression and social phobias [1,2]. Propionibacterium acnes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and S. aureus are known skin pathogenic bacteria associated with acne vulgaris. These bacteria are related to the development of inflammation and abnormal follicular keratinization [3]. P. acnes develops inflammatory acne by chemotactically-attracted neutrophils by metabolizing sebaceous triglycerides into fatty acids [4,5]. Antibiotics are used as acne treatment to kill the bacteria.
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