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Abstract

Background: Acne is a multifactorial inflammatory skin disease affecting the quality of life of acne prone subjects. Several therapeutic approaches are currently used to counteract this condition, mostly having side effects. As acne development has been recently linked to skin and gut dysbiosis, acting on both aspects could represent an alternative and promising approach to ameliorate the acne clinical signs. Material and Methods: A cosmetic product, containing Ectoin, and a food supplement, containing probiotics, were formulated as a combined treatment to target both gut and skin microbiota and evaluated for the improvement of skin appearance on acne prone adult subjects. Eighty male and female subjects, showing acne clinical signs, were assigned to 4 groups to receive the following products: the cosmetic product containing Ectoin + a placebo food supplement, the combined treatment, a cosmetic reference product, specifically formulated for counteracting acne, + a placebo food supplement, the cosmetic reference product + the food supplement with probiotics. Acne lesions, skin sebum content, pH and moisturization were monitored. Results: Clinical evaluations of active acne lesions and comedones, skin complexion evenness and skin inflammatory status were carried out. The combined treatment resulted as effective as the cosmetic reference product in ameliorating the instrumental parameters, and more effective in the dermatological assessment of skin complexion evenness and inflammatory status. Conclusion: The combined treatment proposed, formulated to target both gut and skin microbiota, resulted effective in ameliorating acne clinical signs and could represent a valid alternative to conventional acne management.