Red seaweed contains anti-acne compound

Potent red seaweed could be the answer for treating acne inflammation.

Macroalgae compounds – already used for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and foods – can have powerful anti-viral, antibacterial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties.

But researchers say red seaweeds are rich in these properties and could be a promising source of natural anti-acne compounds.

They believe new treatment options could be found in exploring compounds from marine resources, with red seaweed most suitable for drug discovery.

“Red seaweed-derived compounds… represent good sources of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory compounds with the potential to be applied in acne vulgaris research for new treatments,” the researchers concluded.

“Those compounds represent the possibility to alleviate the consequences of the most prevalent skin disease.”

They say clinical trials are needed to determine the effectiveness of red algae compounds for acne.