Skin surface glycerol levels in acne vulgaris.

Free glycerol would be expected from biochemical considerations to be an end product of lipolysis of sebum triglycerides. Glycerol was measured in skin surface washings of acne vulgaris patients, in acne vulgaris patients treated for at least 3 mo with oral tetracycline and in control subjects. Surface glycerol in untreated acne subjects was significantly less than that expected theoretically, whereas the amounts of such glycerol in treated acne patients and in control subjects closely approached the theoretically expected values. It is suggested that glycerol may be an in vivo substrate for Propionibacterium acnes.