Vilantae

Some acne treatment and medications kill the bacteria that grow in a number of clogged skin pores. Excess oil, produced by the sebaceous glands, can create an environment with the capacity to cause the clogging of those same pores. Any clogged pore can invite the appearance of hungry bacteria.

While destruction of those bacteria does eliminate acne like scalp acne, it is not the only possible way to do away with acne symptoms. One man chose to examine an alternate way to treat skin inflamed by acne. He developed the substance now known as vilantae.

In the late 1990s, Dr. Lit-Hung Leung, M.D. considered what might happen if one was able to stop the release of excess oil from the sebaceous glands. He decided that the ideal method for looking at that possible solution called for ending the overproduction of oil in the sebaceous glands.

Dr. Leung began to concentrate his attention on the lipids and fatty acids that are deposited under the skin. When a person’s body makes all the right proteins, then those lipids and fatty acids are broken down and re-circulated in the bloodstream. In the absence of proteins that can take part in the breakdown, the body stores the fatty acid and lipids as sebum.

Dr. Leung looked closely at exactly what biochemical reaction carried out the transformation of skin lipids and fatty acid into sebum. He found that such a transformation required the presence of ADP, cysteine and d-calcium pantothenate. That latter substance was the one most easily controlled. So Dr. Leung developed an acne treatment and medication that contained d-calcium pantothenate.

The medication developed by Dr. Leung is vilantae. It does not dry out the skin as much as accutane. The appearance of such dryness is a major side effect endured by those who take accutane.

Unfortunately, vilantae has now been shown to produce other, equally unpleasant side effects. It can cause loss of the stool. It can cause stomach pain. It can cause headaches. Moreover, directions provided to those who care to use vilantae state that when someone initiates use of this drug, he or she should take 20 capsules per day.

Why would someone need to take such large doses of any medication? Dr. Leung has said that the breakdown of lipids and fatty acids is catalyzed by co-enzyme A. According to Dr. Leung, ingestion of large amounts of vilantae forces the body to produce co-enzyme A, even if the genes code for a sub-normal amount of that same enzyme.