Evaluation of 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels and disease severityin patients with acne vulgaris

Abstract

Acne vulgaris is a multifactorial skin disorder. Many etiological factors are speculated to contribute to the pathogenesis of acne, one of these is vitamin D deficiency. Previous studies reported contradictory results about serum 25 hydroxy vitamin D (25-OH vitamin D) levels, its association with acne, some claimed that acne lesion might improve with vitamin D supplementation. We aimed to assess serum 25-OH vitamin D levels in acne patients, identify their relation with disease severity in a larger study group. The study included 134 acne patients, 129 controls. Acne disease severity was identified with Global Acne Grading Scale (GAGS) scores. Serum 25-OH vitamin D levels were measured in all groups. Serum 25-OH vitamin D levels were significantly lower in acne patients than in controls (P <.001). The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was significantly higher in acne group than in control group (77.6% vs 63.9%; P =.041). There was a negative-strong statistically significant correlation detected between serum 25-OH vitamin D levels and GAGS scores in patient group (P <.001; r = −.910). According to these results, we claim that evaluating serum 25-OH vitamin D levels in acne patients, vitamin D supplementation as a treatment option may be a consideration for further studies. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC.