Comparison between serum level of superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde, and DNA damage in acne vulgaris and vitiligo patients

Background Free radical-mediated reactions and oxidative stress have been implicated in the pathogenesis of acne, but their role in eliciting this response and contributing to disease progress remains unexplored. Objective To evaluate the extent of oxidative stress and DNA damage in patients with acne vulgaris in comparison with patients with vitiligo, a disease with a well-known and documented role of oxidative stress in its pathogenesis. Patients and methods Serum from 15 patients with acne vulgaris, 15 patients with vitiligo, and 15 agematched and sex-matched controls were evaluated for serum levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), and DNA damage. Results In both acne vulgaris and vitiligo patients, serum level of MDA and percentage of DNA damage were statistically significantly higher compared with controls (P 0.001), whereas serum level of SOD was statistically significantly lower compared with controls (P 0.001). Serum level of MDA and percentage of DNA damage in vitiligo patients were statistically significantly higher than that in acne patients (P 0.05), whereas serum level of SOD in vitiligo patients was statistically significantly lower than that in acne patients (P 0.001). Serum level of MDA and percentage of DNA damage in vitiligo was not found to be statistically significantly higher in severe acne patients. Conclusion Oxidative stress in severe cases of acne vulgaris was found to be comparable to vitiligo cases, which suggests the addition of antioxidants to the treatment regimen of acne vulgaris