Lipidomic profiling of skin surface lipids in a cohort of Chinese patients with rosacea

Rosacea is a chronic skin disease with unclear causes, involving skin barrier issues and lipid changes. This study analyzed lipid profiles in rosacea patients' skin surface lipids (SSLs) to explore potential causes. The study included 10 rosacea patients and 10 healthy controls in Beijing. Transepidermal water loss (TEWL) was evaluated to assess the skin barrier function. Liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and multivariate data analysis were employed to investigate SSLs alterations. The results showed that rosacea patients had higher TEWL values than healthy controls (16.59 ± 3.95 versus 7.87 ± 2.52, p < 0.01). LC-MS/MS revealed significant differences in the lipidomic profiles and identified 48 species of SSLs that differed between the two groups. Triacylglycerol (TAG) were particularly abundant and varied in rosacea patients, which had 8 down-regulated differential lipids and 28 up-regulated lipids in rosacea patients. TAG, diacylglycerols (DAG), lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), phosphatidylcholine (PC) were positively correlated with TEWL value (p < 0.05), but FFA were negatively correlated with TEWL value (p < 0.05). The present study indicated that patients with rosacea have impaired skin barrier function and altered SSL composition. Certain SSL species identified in this study may be potential targets for future studies on the pathogenesis and treatment of rosacea.