Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences

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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INSULIN RESISTANCE, BODY COMPOSITION, AND SEVERE ACNE: A CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSIS

ALEXA FLORINA BUNGAU 1,2, DELIA MIRELA TIT 1,3*, RADU DUMITRU MOLERIU 4, COSMIN MIHAI VESA 1,2, CAMELIA CRISTINA DIACONU 5,6,7, ANDREI-FLAVIUS RADU 1,2, SIMONA GABRIELA BUNGAU 1,3, TIMEA CLAUDIA GHITEA 3

1 Doctoral School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410087, Oradea, Romania
2 Department of Preclinical Disciplines, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410073, Oradea, Romania
3 Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410028, Oradea, Romania
4 Department III of Functional Sciences, Discipline of Medical Informatics and Biostatistics, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041, Timisoara, Romania
5 Department of Internal Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474, Bucharest Romania
6 Internal Medicine Department, Clinical Emergency Hospital of Bucharest, 105402, Bucharest, Romania
7 Academy of Romanian Scientists, 050085, Bucharest, Romania

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Recent evidence suggests a potential link between acne severity and insulin resistance (IR). This cross-sectional study of 152 acne patients explored this association, considering factors such as fat-free mass (FFM), fat mass (FM), visceral fat (VF) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity. Patients were categorized into two groups: a control group (CG, N = 80) with acne but no IR and an IR group (IRS-G, N = 72) with both acne and IR. The study assessed the likelihood of severe acne in the presence of IR and evaluated its relationship with body composition indices. Severe acne was significantly more common in the IRS-G (p < 0.05), which also displayed higher BMI, FM and VF (p < 0.05) and lower GPx activity (p < 0.001) compared to the CG. Elevated HOMA-IR values correlated positively with BMI, FM, VF and acne severity (p < 0.001) and negatively with GPx activity (p < 0.001). These findings highlight that IR, alongside higher BMI, FM, VF, and reduced GPx activity, strongly predicts severe acne. IR and associated metabolic parameters significantly influence acne severity. Larger, multicentre prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings and elucidate the mechanisms underlying this relationship.