Botulin Toxin Aids in Treating Acne, Rosacea

New research shows a certain dilution of botulin toxin (BTX) could be an effective dermatological treatment for patients with mild-to-moderate acne vulgaris or erthematotelangiectatic rosacea.

A team, led by Lucia Calvisi, MD, showed how to use a peculiar dilution of botulinum toxin type A in the treatment of various dermatological diseases, including mild-to-moderate acne vulgaris and erythematotelangiectatic rosacea.

Botulin Toxin

Botulin toxin is a potent neurotoxin produced by Clostridium botulinum. The treatment was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2002 and has been widely used since.

Recently, investigators have found botulin toxin exerts its activity on various types of skin cells and can be used as a treatment for some dermatological diseases.

Included in the study were 50 total patients, 35 of which had mild-to-moderate acne and 15 of which had erthematotelangiectatic rosacea. Both groups of patients were treated with Microbotox, a specific dilution of Onabotulinum toxin A.

The Patients

The investigators took images of each patients before treatment, as well as 4 weeks following treatment.

The results showed no immediate or delayed complications in either group of patients.

“Botulinum toxin shows a great promise either in dermatological disease like mild-to-moderate acne vulgaris and erythematotelangiectatic rosacea,” the authors wrote. “Microbotox appears to be a valid, long-lasting, and a standardized approach to treat these kind of two disease.”

Misinformation

Recently, dermatologists have had to fight back against misinformation on TikTok regarding skin treatments and have used this opportunity to improve skin and hair health awareness and literacy, particularly among networks’ younger demographics.

New data show it is estheticians and influencers, not board-certified dermatologists, who are leading discussion on matters including skin of color care on these channels.

The new study presented at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) 2022 Annual Meeting in Boston showed non-dermatologists are the primary source of dermatology content to include skin of color-associated hashtags on TikTok.

The team derived 61 skin of color-related TikTok hashtags from multiple sources including the Skin of Color Society, a list of common disorder terms and phrases, and focused social media research into popular skin of color topics. They then examined the popularity of each hashtag by total views on TikTok, along with the source, content and level of engagement accompanying each hashtag’s top-viewed post.

Content was defined as educational, promotional or personal, and engagement was measured by TikTok Likes and Comments. Investigators conducted the final assessment in September 2021.

The most popular skin of color-related hashtags on TikTok included #IngrownHair (approximately 2 billion views), #HairLoss (1.2 billion views), #Dandruff (875 million views), #Vitiligo (483 million views) and #Hyperpigmentation (251 million views). Adversely, 17 hashtags included no related posts.

Just one-fourth (n = 12) of the observed top-view posts featuring the identified skin of color hashtags featured a board-certified dermatologist post; another 9% (n = 4) featured other health care providers. All of the latter posts were educational content.

The study, “Microbotox: A prospective evaluation of dermatological improvement in patients with mild-to-moderate acne and erythematotelangiectatic rosacea,” was published online in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology.