Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a well-known inflammatory chemokine and suggested to be involved in the development of acne vulgaris. This study investigates IL-8 plasma levels in acne patients and healthy controls and the molecular basis for the regulation of the IL-8 gene in a Pakistani population. Patients with acne vulgaris (n = 264) and healthy individuals (n = 264) were enrolled in this investigation. Plasma IL-8 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The genotyping for IL-8 gene was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Our data showed a statistically significant increase in IL-8 levels from acne patients compared with healthy subjects (154.2 ± 52.1 pg/mL in patients vs. 101.6 ± 33.5 pg/mL in controls, p<0.0001). The IL-8-251T>A (rs4073) polymorphism was significantly higher in patients with acne compared with the control group (p=0.013). There was a significant difference between the T and A alleles from acne cases and controls (odds ratio OR=1.6,95 % CI= 1.16-2.19, p=0.003). Logistic-regression analysis showed that the increased IL-8 levels, and the IL-8-251T>A polymorphism were significantly associated with acne. Our data suggest that the elevated IL-8 levels and the IL-8-251T>A polymorphism may be associated with acne vulgaris in the study population.
Keywords: Acne vulgaris; Association; Interleukin-8; Pakistan; Polymorphism.