Background: Long-term skin illness known as acne vulgaris (AV) is brought on by clogged hair follicles with oil from the skin and dead skin cells. Acne is caused by a combination of immunologic, inflammatory, and hormonal pathways. A protein found in milk that binds iron is called lactoferrin. Lactoferrin is an iron-binding protein involved in innate defence that has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate serum level of lactoferrin in patients with acne vulgaris, and the efficacy of oral lactoferrin supplementation in moderate acne vulgaris.
Patients and Methods: In addition to 42 healthy volunteers who were matched by age and gender who served as the control group, the trial comprised 42 patients who had acne vulgaris. The cases group was further split into two equal subgroups: Subgroup (A) consisted of 21 patients who took 100 mg of lactoferrin-enriched tablets twice a day for four weeks as oral lactoferrin supplementation, and subgroup (B) consisted of 21 patients who did not take oral lactoferrin supplementation. The Global Acne Grading System was used to evaluate the severity of the illness.
Results: Comparing acne cases to control subjects, there was a statistically significant increase in serum lactoferrin. Between the two subgroups of the cases group, there was a statistically significant strong positive connection only for inflammatory lesions and not for non-inflammatory lesions when comparing serum lactoferrin to baseline Global Acne Grading System(GAGS). On the GAGS score, noninflammatory lesions, and inflammatory lesions, there was a statistically significant interaction between the treatment arm and time.
Conclusion: Lactoferrin is a potential diagnostic biomarker in acne vulgaris. Utilization of lactoferrin supplementation is an effective supplementary treatment for acne vulgaris.