Survivin as a Novel Biomarker in the Pathogenesis of Acne Vulgaris and Its Correlation to Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I

Abstract EN

Survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein family, has an important role in cell cycle regulation.

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) is a polypeptide hormone with wide range of biologic effects including stimulation of lipogenesis in sebaceous glands.

Their overexpression in some fibrotic disorders suggests a possible implication of both IGF-I and survivin in the pathogenesis of acne and/or acne scars.

The current study aimed to assess and correlate serum levels of IGF-I and survivin in patients with active acne vulgaris and postinflammatory acne scars and to evaluate their lesional expressions in comparison to healthy controls.

Serum IGF-I and survivin were estimated using commercially available ELISA kits and their tissues expressions were investigated using Western blotting.

Our findings suggest that IGF-I and survivin could play potential roles in the pathogenesis of active acne vulgaris and more importantly in postinflammatory acne scars with significant positive correlation coefficient between serum levels of IGF-I and survivin which support IGF-I-/PI3K-/AKT-mediated downregulation of nuclear expression of FoxO transcription factors resulting in enhanced survivin expression.