5 replies to this topic

[Choof_Chomper]

I was reading this dudes thread about using bactine to clear acne and decided to look into it

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/POST-READ-t75810.html

Benzalkonium Cl 0.13% is the active ingredient

Benzalkonium Cl is a family of benzyldimethylalkylammonium compounds which are selective inhibitors of histamine release induced by 48/80 and many other polyamines, but do not inhibit histamine release caused by antigen-antibody reactions, ionophores, enzymes or detergents.

so i did a search on histamine acne in pubmed

Identification of histamine receptors and reduction of squalene levels by an antihistamine in sebocytes.

Pelle E, McCarthy J, Seltmann H, Huang X, Mammone T, Zouboulis CC, Maes D.
Estee Lauder Research Laboratories, Melville, New York 11747, USA. epelle@estee.com
Overproduction of sebum, especially during adolescence, is causally related to acne and inflammation. As a way to reduce sebum and its interference with the process of follicular keratinization in the pilosebaceous unit leading to inflammatory acne lesions, antihistamines were investigated for their effect on sebocytes, the major cell of the sebaceous gland responsible for producing sebum. Reverse transcriptase-PCR analysis and immunofluorescence of an immortalized sebocyte cell line (SZ95) revealed the presence of histamine-1 receptor (H-1 receptor), and thus indicated that histamines and, conversely, antihistamines could potentially modulate sebocyte function directly. When sebocytes were incubated with an H-1 receptor antagonist, diphenhydramine (DPH), at non-cytotoxic doses, a significant decrease in squalene levels, a biomarker for sebum, was observed. As determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, untreated sebocytes contained 6.27 (+/-0.73) nmol squalene per 10(6) cells, whereas for DPH-treated cells, the levels were 2.37 (+/-0.24) and 2.03 (+/-0.97) nmol squalene per 10(6) cells at 50 and 100 microM, respectively. These data were further substantiated by the identification of histamine receptors in human sebaceous glands. In conclusion, our data show the presence of histamine receptors on sebocytes, demonstrate how an antagonist to these receptors modulated cellular function, and may indicate a new paradigm for acne therapy involving an H-1 receptor-mediated pathway.

so theoretically anthistamines could lower or somehow modulate characteristics of sebum although im not sure how spraying bactine on your face could antagonize the receptors. But then again i was surprised to find that bp works as well at least for some people.

anyway i will now be spraying bactine on my face everyday and will post the results, if any, in a month.

[Yo Adrienne!]

i read the post you are talking about... very interesting! i have thought "what if i put peroixde or bactine on my face since there is an infection" but i never did. i know some people think its stupid... but hey, at this point, i'll put battery acid on my face if it will help my acne! let me know if it works for you! i might try it too... nothing to lose! thats about the way it would be though... spending years of time, money, and heartache trying to clear you skin when the cure is in your first aid kit. haha keep everyone posted! good luck

[Sheefa]

I was involved in an anti-histamine study about 3 years ago, see GregasGP posts. A groupd of us were taking Zantac75 tablets with mixed results. I definitely think there is a histamine link somewhere as I am most positively histamine high.

[Choof_Chomper]

ok the experiment is already over lol. first off after you apply bactine to your face and it dries up it feels like you just laminated your face. secondly my acne started getting worse. I get on average 2 small whitheads per day and black heads on my nose. When i got a zit on the bactine it was actually a bit larger red and inflamed and actually left a slightly larger red mark. Obviously this cant be taken as anything since i only did it a few days and didnt wait it out for the whole month but my acne at this point is pretty minor in my opinion and the last thing i wanna do is worsen it if even for a short time. It definately did reduce the oiliness of my face though which is probably a positive for acne. For me personally though i like the look of shiny skin. Didnt really affect skin dryness though maybe a little bit. I guess people who are real desperate though might wanna give it a shot for the month

[tofupalace]

thats funny, i think i actually remember reading that guys post about bactine years ago.

so you only did it a couple days? thats too bad... the fact that you saw a decrease in oilyness is pretty neat, if anything.

the anti-histamine idea is interesting, i was thinking about it the other day when i was going through my medicine cabinet and saw an old bottle of benadryl, whose active ingredient is what they used in that study (diphenhydramine hcl).

[Choof_Chomper]

thats funny, i think i actually remember reading that guys post about bactine years ago.

so you only did it a couple days? thats too bad... the fact that you saw a decrease in oilyness is pretty neat, if anything.

the anti-histamine idea is interesting, i was thinking about it the other day when i was going through my medicine cabinet and saw an old bottle of benadryl, whose active ingredient is what they used in that study (diphenhydramine hcl).

yeah didnt really want torture myself with inflamed acne for a month since i only have mild acne at this point. kind of selfish but I hate acne lol. I also like the look of oily skin though which to me was a negative. kind of made my skin look a little duller.