Acne Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Acne, including details on skin problems, diet, treatments, puberty.

The familial risk of acne vulgaris in Chinese Hans - a case-control study.

Xu SX, Wang HL, Fan X, Sun LD, Yang S, Wang PG, Xiao FL, Gao M, Cui Y, Ren YQ, Du WH, Quan C, Zhang XJ

Institute of Dermatology & Department of Dermatology at No.1 Hospital, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China, and Key Laboratory of Genome Research in Hefei, Anhui Province, China.

BACKGROUND: Acne is a chronic inflammatory disease of the pilosebaceous follicles. Recent studies bring us increasing evidences that hereditary factors play an important but indirect role in acne. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the possible role of genetic factors in the pathogenesis of acne vulgaris in Chinese Han ethnic group. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Volunteers of 975 acne cases and 580 controls were included, contributing 3009 and 1825 first-degree relatives, respectively. One thousand and eighty-five first-degree relatives of acne cases were affected with facial acne. This compared with 223 first-degree relatives of non-acne controls. The odds ratio was used to estimate the relative risk for acne vulgaris associated with having an affected first-degree relative. RESULTS: The risk of acne vulgaris occurring in a relative of a patient with acne vulgaris was significantly greater than for the relative of an unaffected individual (odds ratio 4.05, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.45-4.76, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that familial factors are important in determining individual susceptibility to acne vulgaris.

Published 23 April 2007 in J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol, 21(5): 602-5.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Acne Research Today. All Rights Reserved.