Serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in patients with acne vulgaris and its association with disease severity.

BACKGROUND: Since vitamin D is a recent known immunoregulatory factor in some diseases which are addressed in immune system disorders such as SLE, [psoriasis] and others.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 [25(OH)D] in patients with acne vulgaris and its association with clinical features.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted over months. This study included 39 patients with acne vulgaris and 40 healthy controls. Subjects who did not use alcohol, vitamin D supplements, oral steroids or PUVA and/or NBUVB for more than three months were included. Serum 25(OH)D levels were measured. Baseline demographics, family history and comorbidities like PCO were recorded. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 16.0.0.

RESULTS: The median concentration of 25(OH)D was 8.4 ng/mL (range: 1.4-99) in patients and 10.4 ng/mL (range: 3.1-56.7) in controls, with no statistical significant difference. PCOS was a significant predictor of the occurrence of acne vulgaris (OR=6.25; 95% CI: 1.52-25.66; p=0.01). There were no significant associations between severity of disease and serum 25(OH)D levels (rs=-0.12, p=0.45), age (rs=-0.28, p=0.09), BMI (rs=-0.12, p=0.46), age at onset of disease (rs=-0.08, p=0.63) and duration of disease (rs=-0.10, p=0.54).

CONCLUSION: Based on the previous studies this is highly suspected that vitamin D would be a prominent factor in acne patients and more performances with bigger sample size could be useful to get positive results.