Effect of Lipid Peroxide in Skin Surface Lipid on the Clinical Aspect of Acne and Melasma

To evaluate correlation between the amounts of lipid peroxide in skin surface lipid and clinical aspect of lipid-relating cutaneous disorders, such as melasma and acne, skin surface lipid samples were collected by using cup method from the faces of 20 acne women and 20 melasma women, before and 3 months after topical treatment with 2% hydroquinone and 2.5% benzoyl peroxide, respectively. The amounts of total lipids and lipid peroxide in skin surface lipid were measured by spectrophotometer and statistically analyzed by student's t-test.

The results were as follows;

1) Before treatmentin comparison with control group, melasma group showed increase of the amounts of lipid peroxide and the ratio of lipid peroxide to total lipids. But acne group showed significant increase of the ratio of lipid peroxide to total lipids as well as the amounts of total lipids and lipid peroxide.

2) After treatment, in comparison with pretreatment, melasma group showed significant decrease of the amounts of lipid peroxide and the ratio of lipid peroxide to total lipids. And in acne group, the amounts of total lipids and lipid peroxide were also decreased significantly.

The amounts of lipid peroxide in skin surface lipid decreased at the time of improvements of clinical aspects in melasma and acne. This data suggest that clinical aspect of melasma and acne is related to the amounts of lipid peroxide in skin surface lipid.