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 (r (s) =-0.12, p= 0.45), age (r (s) =-0.28, p= 0.09), BMI (r (s) =-0.12, p= 0.46), age at onset of disease (r (s) =-0.08, p= 0.63) and duration of disease (r (s) =-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.