Background: Acne vulgaris (AV) is an extraordinarily common skin condition. The high prevalence of AV is linked to the exposure factors, as environmental pollutants and climatic factors, occupational, psychosocial, and lifestyle factors. The AhR plays a critical part in environmental toxic action. The AhR expression and imbalance in the IL-36 & 38 expression may have a role in inflammation and AV pathogenesis.
Aims: To detect possible links between environmental, inflammatory, and antiinflammatory factors in AV pathogenesis through measuring AhR, IL-36, and IL38 mRNA gene expression levels.
Patients and Methods: Total of 100 subjects (70 AV patients and 30 apparently healthy control subjects) were tested for AhR, IL-36γ, and IL-38 mRNA levels by quantitative real-time PCR.
Results: The median levels of AhR and IL-36 mRNA gene expression were considerably greater, while that of IL-38 was essentially lower in AV than healthy subjects (p < 0.001, 0.021 and 0.002, respectively). The AhR and IL-36 mRNA gene expression
levels increased, while IL-38 decreased significantly with higher grades of severity (p < 0.001, 0.001, and