Acne is an inflammatory condition predominantly influenced by genetic and dietary factors. Examining functional polymorphisms of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α gene and their association with acne vulgaris will help explore the genetic influence on skin immune-mediated inflammatory events. A recent study analyzed the association of TNF-α gene polymorphisms, their expression levels and lipid profiles in a large cohort of acne patients and controls.

PCR-RFLP was utilized to study the association of TNF-α polymorphisms at −857C/T, −863C/A and −1031 T/C sites with acne vulgaris. Lipid profiles were calculated using the enzymatic end-point method. The serum levels of TNF-α and apolipoprotein-a were estimated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). NIH, LDlink was employed to examine patterns of linkage disequilibrium across the south Asian reference genome (Punjabi from Lahore Pakistan).

The results obtained were as follows:

• TNF-α −863 polymorphism was found to be strongly associated with acne in the overall population as well as in gender and severity based groups of acne patients.
• Polymorphisms at −863 and −1031 positions were observed in linkage disequilibrium.
• Notably, TNF-α serum level was found to be significantly increased in acne patients with severe disease symptoms.
• Also, levels of total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) were significantly increased, while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level was significantly decreased in patients with acne.
• The levels of apolipoprotein-a differed greatly in studied populations and no significant difference was discovered in the analyzed groups.

Thus, it was concluded that TNF-α expression increases in acne patients affected by TNF-α polymorphisms and the lipid profile are particularly disrupted in acne patients.

Source: Younis S, Shamim S, Nisar K, et al. Association of TNF-α polymorphisms (-857, -863 and -1031), TNF-α serum level and lipid profile with acne vulgaris. Saudi J Biol Sci. 2021;28(11):6615-20.