image courtesy of ION CHANNEL MEDIA GROUP LTD
In an article published in PLoS ONE [1] stated that “The cause of rosacea has been proposed as over-production of the cationic cathelicidin peptide LL-37.” This statement is without a doubt the result of the work of Gallo, et. al, at the University of San Diego that was initially published in Nature Magazine [2].
So what is cationic cathelicidin peptide LL-37? It is an Antimicrobial peptide (AMP) which is part of our immune system that attack invading bacteria or other microbes to defend our body. There has been some evidence that rosacea may be a result of an immune system disorder. [3] Gallo, mentioned earlier, said in 2004, that rosacea may be an “abnormality in the innate immune system … caused by too much cathelicidin.” He is also quoted as saying “if we believe that the disease is caused by too much cathelicidin, we could develop a strategy to block the effects of the cathelicidins by making molecules that mimic that protein but don’t have the same effects.” [4]
When reading these articles, one might conclude that the theory of what causes rosacea is over and that cathelicidin is the culprit. However, the article only said that the “cause of rosacea has been proposed as over-production of the cationic cathelicidin peptide LL-37.” The jury is still out on what causes rosacea. [5]
However, it is important to note that as Dr. Gallo pointed out, “if we believe that the disease is caused by too much cathelicidin” then the treatment might be radically different. Antibiotics are regularly used to treat rosacea and may be treating the wrong target. [6] So this new article published in PloS One by Zhang, et. al, “tested a new class of non-anticoagulant sulfated anionic polysaccharides, semi-synthetic glycosaminoglycan ethers (SAGEs)” on mouse skin. The result:
“Topical application of a 1% (w/w) SAGE emollient to overlying injected skin also reduced erythema and PMN infiltration from intradermal LL-37.”
So we wait and see what will become of this new treatment for rosacea based on the theory that the cause is an overproduction of Cationic Cathelicidin Peptide LL-37.
End Notes
[1] Novel Sulfated Polysaccharides Disrupt Cathelicidins, Inhibit RAGE and Reduce Cutaneous Inflammation in a Mouse Model of Rosacea.
Zhang J, Xu X, Rao NV, Argyle B, McCoard L, Rusho WJ, Kennedy TP, Prestwich GD, Krueger G.
PLoS One. 2011 Feb 9;6(2):e16658.
[3] Increased serine protease activity and cathelicidin promotes skin inflammation in rosacea
Kenshi Yamasaki1, Anna Di Nardo1, Antonella Bardan1, Masamoto Murakami2, Takaaki Ohtake3, Alvin Coda1, Robert A Dorschner1, Chrystelle Bonnart4,5, Pascal Descargues4,5, Alain Hovnanian4,5,6, Vera B Morhenn1 & Richard L Gallo1
Nature Medicine 13, 975 – 980 (2007)
Published online: 5 August 2007 | doi:10.1038/nm1616
[3] Innate Immune Response
post by Brady Barrows, Director of the RRDi
[4] Innate immunity: Role in rosacea?
Michelle Stephenson
Dermatology Times, June 1, 2004
posted at Rosacea Support Group
[5] Cause of Rosacea Revisited
[6] Dr. Gallo is quoted as saying, “Antibiotics tend to alleviate the symptoms of rosacea in patients because some of them work to inhibit these enzymes [STCE]. Our findings may modify the therapeutic approach to treating rosacea,since bacteria aren’t the right target.”
UCSD Researchers Discover Cause of Rosacea
By Debra Kain, University of California, San Diego, August 7, 2007
Image Credit
Image of Solution structure of the LL-37 core peptide bound to detergent micelles courtesy of ION CHANNEL MEDIA GROUP LTD.
Jasmine
on Oct 20th, 2011
@ 2:31 pm:
This sounds very encouraging, although I don’t think topicals work for very long. You have to apply them over and over!