Comparison of the kinetics of sebum secretion in young women with and without acne.

We utilized a sebum-sensitive adhesive film, Sebutape, to visualize the pore patterns of women with and without acne with computerized image analysis. In normal young women, we found a positive correlation between the number of active sebaceous follicles and total sebum excretion. When seborrhea was intense, this correlation was however lost. The situation was more complex in acne. The severity of seborrhea was positively correlated with the mean sebum excretion of individual follicles but not with the number of active follicles.