Study of elastolytic activity Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermis in acne vulgaris and in normal skin.

Histopathological sections of anetoderma-like scars from 10 patients with acne vulgaris showed a selective absence of elastic fibers around pilosebaceous follicles. This finding is similar to the histologic changes of "perifollicular elastolysis" reported by Varadi. Bacteria isolated by anaerobic and aerobic cultures of swabs of the skin surface and pus of these 10 patients, 12 others with active acne vulgaris and 8 normal subjects were studied with particular attention to Staphylococcus epidermis and Propionibacterium acnes. These organisms were analysed for production of an elastolytic enzyme which might play a role in the observed selective loss of elastic fibers. No elastolytic activity was produced by S. epidermidis or P. acnes isolated from any of these individuals. Thus, we cannot attribute the perifollicular loss of elastic fibers in acne scarring to an elastase produced by organisms. The observed absence of elastic fibers might result from tissue necrosis produced by leukocytes during the inflammatory phase, followed by collagenous scar formation without regeneration of elastic fibers.