Peeling de ácido chiquímico no tratamento da acne vulgar : estudo de casos.

Abstract

Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease of the skin, which occurs in the pilosebaceous unit, and involves four main mechanisms: inflammation, follicular hyperkeratinization, sebaceous hypersecretion, and proliferation of the bacterium Propionibacterium acnes. It usually affects the adolescent public, leaving physical and psychological consequences when left untreated. Its multifactorial character leads to different treatment methods, including systemic, topical therapies, and chemical peels. Chemical peels consist of the application of substances with an exfoliating capacity, which cause controlled damage to the skin, intending its regeneration to remove irregularities from the tissue. Many organic acids are used with this function, and among them is shikimic acid, with antimicrobial and antiinflammatory properties. This study aimed to verify the effectiveness of 20% shikimic acid as a chemical peeling agent for the treatment of acne vulgaris in adolescents. Participated in the study, 10 volunteers of both sexes, who had mild to moderate acne, recruited from two high schools, in the city of Candelária/RS, and which meet the inclusion criteria of the research, approved by CEP-UNISC under protocol number 3.713.863. From the results obtained, there was a significant decrease (p<0,05) in the number of acne lesions among patients in both assessment methods used: the total lesion count and the acne severity index. The therapy proved to be very tolerable, with minimal adverse effects, over a period of eight weeks, where there were four applications of chemical peeling.