Zinc salts inhibit in vitro Toll-like receptor 2 surface expression by keratinocytes

Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) plays an important role in the induction and maintenance of the inflammatory phase of acne. At the therapeutic level, it has been shown that zinc salts could have a beneficial effect on mild and moderate inflammatory acne lesions. However, their mechanisms of action are still only partially known. Immediate early immune response is a crucial route in the development of inflammatory reaction and, specifically, activation of Toll-like Receptors (TLRs) leading to nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB translocation and production of inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-8 (IL-8). The aim of this work was to determine if cytokine secretion and innate immunity could be targets of zinc salts. Normal Human Epidermal Keratinocytes (NHEK) and skin explants were stimulated by P. acnes extracts and incubated (3 h) with zinc salts (1 microg/mL). Then we successively studied TLR2 expression by immunohistochemistry and IL-8 production by ELISA. After incubation with zinc salts, the increase of TLR2 surface expression in skin upon membrane fraction (FM) of P. acnes challenge was decreased as compared to that in control samples. However, this inhibition does not modify IL-8 secretion by keratinocytes. In conclusion the inhibition of TLR2 surface expression by keratinocytes could be one of the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of zinc salts in acne.