Background: Survivin's role in acne vulgaris pathogenesis is implicated, particularly in the fibrogenesis underlying acne scarring. This work aimed to compare the level of serum survivin among acne vulgaris patients versus healthy control subjects and to find out any possible correlation between the serum level of survivin, and the severity of acne vulgaris.

Methods: There were 42 patients in this case control study and 21 healthy controls, all of similar age and gender. There were 21 patients in the acne group who reported acne vulgaris, and 21 patients in the scar group who reported acne scars. Mild, moderate, and severe acne were the three subgroups established by the global acne grading system (GAGS). Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the serum levels of survivin were measured in all three groups.

Results: The levels of serum survivin among cases with active acne were significantly higher when compared to the control group (P=0.02). On conducting ROC curve analysis on serum survivin for discriminating between acne and non-acne patients, at cut off point of 5.3, it showed sensitivity (76.19%), specificity (57.14%) and area under curve (AUC) (0.676).

Conclusion: This study revealed significantly elevated serum survivin levels among cases with acne vulgaris compared to the healthy controls. These findings support a role for survivin in acne pathogenesis and, more significantly, in the development of post-inflammatory fibrotic scarring.