Clinical markers of androgenicity in acne vulgaris

Androgenic stimulation of sebaceous glands is necessary for development of acne. If hyperandrogenaemia were a major determinant of acne in women, the frequency of other clinical markers of androgenicity should increase with acne severity. To investigate this, 268 female subjects (aged 12-44 years) were studied. Subjects were divided into groups on the basis of acne severity: physiological, moderate, and severe. With exclusion of women taking oral contraceptives or anti-androgen therapy, subjects in each group were similar with respect to age at menarche and incidence of menstrual irregularity of amenorrhoea. Reports of excessive body hair, and clinical hirsutes on examination were few and there were no significant differences between acne severity groups. No correlation was observed between acne and hirsutes grades in all subjects (rank correlation coefficient = 0.096). Mild male pattern androgenic alopecia occurred in similar proportions of subjects in the three groups. Female pattern androgenic alopecia was observed in only two subjects. We have shown no correlation between acne severity and clinical markers of androgenicity in women. This suggests that in most cases factors other than hyperandrogenaemia are necessary for the development of acne.