WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

*Gassaq Khalil Ismail, Besma Mohamed Ali, Dooha Khalil I. Alhamdi and Khalil I. Alhamdi

ABSTRACT

Background: Acne vulgaris is a common inflammatory disorder of the pilosebaceous unit. It usually affects adolescent and young adult. Vitamin D is thought to play a role in the differentiation and proliferation of the skin, in addition it’s reported to have antimicrobial effects and it acts as an immune-modulator that is why its deficiency may cause certain skin and hair disorders. The correlation is not well established, although many research works reported that vitamin D deficiency among patients with acne vulgaris is inversely related to the severity of acne. So that this study is designed to investigate the level of vitamin D among a sample of Iraqi patients with acne vulgaris in comparison to normal individuals and its relation to the severity of acne. Patients and methods: A case- control clinical investigational study that was conducted in Basra teaching hospital and two private dermatological clinics, where a total of (51) patients with acne vulgaris and (58) normal individuals were enrolled in this study. After taking hstory and clinical examination, serum vitamin D3 level was estimated for all participants. Results: a total of 108 participants (51) patients and (58) normal individuals where enrolled in this study. (84.3%) were females. The mean of vitamin D3 level is significantly lower among patients (14.99 ± 11.72) compared to the normal group (27.24 ± 12.30). patients with nodulocystic acne had lower mean of serum vitamin D3 level (11.89), in contrast with those presenting with papulopastular acne where the mean level of vitamin D3 was (16.41). although, the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Vitamin D is significantly lower among patients with acne in comparison with control group. Vitamin D deficiency is more among patients with severe nodulocystic acne in comparison with papulopustular type although, the difference is not statically significant.