Acne vulgaris is a multifactorial pilosebaceous unit disorder, with histological, immunological and evidence suggesting inflammatory involvement in its different stages. Acne vulgaris possess psychological impact on affected patients due to facial disfigurement especially if severe. Visfatin is an adipokine of proinflammatory characteristics. It was related to insulin resistance, obesity and some inflammatory skin diseases.

Aim of the study: The current study aimed to evaluate serum visfatin levels in inflammatory acne vulgaris patients and to reveal the possible relation between its serum levels and the insulin resistance status in patients.

Patients and methods: The study included 30 patients suffering from inflammatory acne vulgaris and 30 healthy control subjects. Full general and dermatological examination were performed, recording of BMI, GAGS score was done. Then, measurement of fasting insulin and fasting glucose was performed to calculate HOMAIR. Measurement of serum visfatin was done using ELISA.

Results: Serum visfatin and HOMAIR levels were significantly higher in acne patients compared to control subjects. Serum visfatin and HOMAIR provided significant discriminative power to differentiate acne patients from control subjects