Researchers are Getting Closer to a Vaccine for Acne

Researchers at the University of California San Diego have developed a vaccine to target the toxic protein secreted by the bacteria associated with acne, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

Propionibacterium acnes bacteria generates Christie-Atkins-Munch Peterson (CAMP) factor, a toxin that triggers acne. The researchers used monoclonal antibodies — cells that interact with the immune system — to disrupt the CAMP factor, which successfully prevented the inflammatory consequences of P.acnes without fully obliterating the bacteria.

The researchers practiced on mice to measure the effectiveness of the vaccine. They injected the mice with a P.acnes-targeting antigen and found that it produced antibodies that dominated the bacteria. On human skin cells, they found that the vaccine noticeably decreased inflammation. They plan on advancing the clinical trials on humans in their upcoming studies.

"Once validated by a large-scale clinical trial, the potential impact of our findings is huge for the hundreds of millions of individuals suffering from acne vulgaris,” said lead study author Chun-Ming Huang, PhD. The vaccine might not only target acne, but could serve as an antidote for other P.acnes conditions, like prostate cancers, sepsis, toxic shock syndrome, endocarditis, osteomyelitis, and infections associated with surgery.