Scientists Find Potential New Acne Treatment Without Side Effects

Acne treatment without side effects has been created from engineered bacteria, a new study reports.

Acne is perfectly normal and common, but it can be hard to live with. Although it is most frequent among teenagers, anyone can suffer from it. There are treatments for mild cases but serious cases are often treated with antibiotics that can cause a range of undesirable side effects.

Acne is caused by the swelling or blockage of hair follicles. Antibiotics aim to kill the bacteria in these follicles, and their side effects can include upset stomach, dizziness and sensitivity to light.

Now international research led by the Translational Synthetic Biology Laboratory of the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) at Pompeu Fabra University in Spain may have come up with an alternative.

The scientists engineered the skin bacterium Cutibacterium acnes so that it produced a molecule that treats acne. It works by secreting the molecule into the part of the skin that regulates the amount of an oily substance called sebum.

When too much sebum is produced, it can cause acne as it mixes with dead skin cells, and thus blocks the follicles. This treatment would work to stop this from happening.

“We have developed a topical therapy with a targeted approach, using what nature already has. We engineered a bacterium that lives in the skin and make it produce what our skin needs. Here, we focused on treating acne, but this platform can be extended to several other indications,” Nastassia Knödlseder, first author of the study, said in a summary detailing the findings, which were published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

“Until now, C. acnes was considered an intractable bacterium. It was incredibly difficult to introduce DNA and get proteins produced or secreted from an element inserted into its genome.”

The team considered several factors to ensure that it would be suitable for real-life applications, such as antibiotic resistance.

To test its effectiveness, scientists applied it to mice. Though it was successful in these trials, the scientists stressed the need for more research, as mice skin is not the same as human skin.

The next steps will include using 3D models of human skin to test its effectiveness.

“We have developed a technology platform that opens the door to editing any bacteria to treat multiple diseases. We are now focused in using C. acnes to treat acne but we can deliver genetic circuits to create smart microbes for applications related to skin sensing, or immune modulation” Marc Güell, a ICREA researcher who led the study, said in the summary.

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