Abstract: Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of oral viaminate(a vitamine A acid derivative)on acne and its effect on the expression of androgen receptor.Methods Two hundred and eigh-teen patients with acne were allocated to treatment group and control group at random:treatment group was treated by oral viaminate;control group was treated by oral minocycline.The treatment lasted for four weeks.The effect of viaminate on the expression of androgen receptor was studied in COLO-16 cells in vitro by using Northern blot or Western blot.Results The therapeutic effect of oral viaminate in treatment group was higher than that in control group(P<0.0001).After treatment by viaminate,the expression of mRNA and proteins of the androgen receptors on COLO-16 cells was down-regulated,and was related to the concentration of viami-nate.Conclusion Viaminate has significant therapeutic effect on acne.In vitro study shows that the thera-peutic effect of viaminate on acne may be related to its down-regulation in the expression of androgen receptors on keratinocytes.

Key words: Vitamine A acid, Acne, vulgaris, Receptor, androgen