Influence of RETN, IL-1, and IL-6 gene polymorphisms on the risk of acne vulgaris in the Chinese population.

Background: Acne vulgaris is a highly prevalent skin disorder that involves pilosebaceous units and may have adverse psychological effects on patients. The occurrence of acne is multifactorial and closely related to the interplay of environmental and genetic factors.

Objective: To investigate the possible association between RETN-420C>G, IL6-572G>C, and IL1A-889C>T polymorphism and acne vulgaris in the Chinese population.

Methods: In this case-control study, genotyping was conducted in 306 patients with acne and 306 healthy controls by using polymerase chain reaction and snapshot technique.

Results: There is a strong correlation between RETN-420 and IL6-572 polymorphisms and acne susceptibility; the RETN-420G and IL6-572C alleles increase the risk of acne development. We also found that IL6-572G>C gene polymorphism is significantly associated with family history of acne and acne severity. In contrast to previous studies, we found no significant difference in the IL1A-889C>T polymorphism between healthy controls and acne patients in our population.

Conclusions: Our findings provide the first evidence that RETN-420 and IL6-572 gene polymorphisms contribute to the pathogenesis of acne in the Chinese population.