BACKGROUND: Acne vulgaris disease is often, recurrent inflammatory condition of the pilosebaceous unit. Diet has important role in acne pathogenesis, acne as a syndrome of insulin resistance, also predicting its severity is associated with higher value of the glycemic index (GI) and higher values of Insulin like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1). OBJECTIVES: This study was done to determine glycemic index and serum IGF-1 levels in patients with acne and healthy controls and to associate them with acne disease and its severity. MATERIAL AND METHOD: 200 individuals (100 patients each of study and control group) were included. Clinical diagnosis of acne was made and assessment of severity was done with the help of Global Acne Grading System. A three day diet history was taken and GI was determined by dietary glycemic loads. Levels of IGF-1 was determined using the R&D Systems Human Insulin Growth Factor-1 ELISA kit. RESULTS:Comparison of GI and serum IGF-1 levels between cases and controls showed high significance. GI and IGF-1 across the spectrum of mild, moderate, and severe acne showed p-value to be highly significant between mild and severe acne (p=0.000). Thus showing more severe acne in patients taking high GI foods with increased serum IGF-1 levels. CONCLUSION: High GI food correlated with high serum IGF-1 levels, which further exacerbate acne. Therefore, diet and IGF-1 has shown to be important in pathogenesis of acne.
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