Effect of Systemic Isotretinoin on serum Irisin level in Acne Vulgaris patients

Abdel-Hamid, Soheir; Abou Elwfa, Nahed Mohamed; Abd Allah, Essra Abass; Ibrahim, Hassan M.

doi:10.21608/svuijm.2025.392359.2192

Effect of Systemic Isotretinoin on serum Irisin level in Acne Vulgaris patients

Document Type : Original research articles

Authors

¹ Dermatology, Venereology, and Andrology Department, Faculty of Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.

² Clinical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt

10.21608/svuijm.2025.392359.2192

Abstract

Background: Acne vulgaris (AV) is a chronic inflammatory dermatological disorder affecting pilosebaceous unit. Clinically, it manifested as comedones, pustules, papules, nodules, cysts, and scarring on the face and trunk.
Objectives: Assess serum irisin levels in acne vulgaris, compare them with healthy controls, as well as analyze impact of oral isotretinoin on serum irisin in cases with AV.
Patients and methods: A prospective randomized clinical interventional trial was enrolled patients diagnosed clinically with moderate and severe acne vulgaris 40 AV patients were split into two groups based on Global Evaluation Acne Scale : group 1 was moderate AV, group 2 was severe AV. Serum irisin was measured in AV patients before and after oral isotretinoin treatment and compared to the control group (group 3).
Results: There was significant difference among three groups in median level of serum irisin before treatment (p = 0.002) i.e., median level was significantly lower in control group (32 [23 - 188] ng/ml) compared with both groups (moderate AV (38 (16-163) ng/ml) (p = 0.004) , severe AV (46 (25.5-113) ng/ml) (p = 0.008). After treatment, there was significant difference among three groups in median level of serum irisin (p = 0.017). There was a non-statistically significant difference among 2 groups regarding clinical improvement (p = 0.308), cases satisfaction (p = 0.527) and treatment side effects (p = 0.507).
Conclusion: Serum irisin serves as a biomarker for disease etiology and a potential prognostic indicator for severity of AV.

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