Effect of intense pulsed light autopulse combined with oral metronidazole on serum inflammatory mediators in patients with mild and moderate acne

Objective:To study the effect of intense pulsed light autopulse combined with oral metronidazole on serum inflammatory mediators in patients with mild and moderate acne. Methods: A total of 84 patients who were diagnosed with mild-to-moderate acne in our hospital between May 2013 and December 2015 were selected and randomly divided into laser group and metronidazole group who received intense pulsed light autopulse combined with oral metronidazole therapy and oral metronidazole monotherapy respectively. Before treatment as well as 1 week and 2 weeks after treatment, the serum was collected, fluorescent quantitative PCR kits were used to determine the expression of TLR molecules and NLRP inflammasome, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits were used to determine the levels of inflammatory cytokines.Results: 2 weeks and 4 weeks after treatment, serum IL-1β, IL-8, IL-12 and IL-18 levels as well as TLR2, TLR4, NLRP3, ASC and Caspase-1 mRNA expression of both groups of patients were significantly lower than those before treatment, and serum IL-1β, IL-8, IL-12 and IL-18 levels as well as TLR2, TLR4, NLRP3, ASC and Caspase-1 mRNA expression of laser group were significantly lower than those of metronidazole group.Conclusion: Intense pulsed light autopulse combined with oral metronidazole has significant inhibitory effect on the inflammatory response mediated by pattern recognition receptors TLR2, TLR4 and NLRP3 in patients with mild and moderate acne.