Could high serum neopterin levels serve as a biomarker for patients diagnosed with rosacea, specifically the papulopustular rosacea subtype?

Ünal K., İlter N.

Open Medicine (Poland), cilt.1, sa.1, ss.1-5, 2026 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

Objectives: This study aimed to compare serum neopterin
and other inflammatory marker levels between patients
with rosacea and healthy controls and to investigate the
potential role of neopterin in disease diagnosis and severity
assessment.
Methods: Forty drug-naive patients clinically diagnosed
with papulopustular rosacea and forty healthy controls were
included. The serum levels of neopterin and other inflam-
matory markers were measured. The Investigator’s Global
Assessment (IGA) score was used to assess the patient’s
disease severity.
Results: Serum neopterin, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and CRP levels
were significantly higher in patients with papulopustular
rosacea than in controls. A positive correlation was found
between neopterin, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IGA scores (r=0.498,
0.523, and 0.432, respectively). ROC curve analysis demon-
strated good diagnostic performance for IFN-γ (AUC=0.821),
TNF-α (AUC=0.780), and neopterin (AUC=0.747).
Conclusions: New biochemical markers are needed to
assess rosacea severity. Neopterin may be a potential
biomarker for rosacea.
Keywords: rosacea; neopterin; inflammation; papulopustular
rosacea; TNF-α; IFN-