Vitamin D Deficiency among Females with Acne Vulgaris in Relation to Sun Exposure: A Cross-sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Acne vulgaris is a common chronic inflammatory disease of the skin. Vitamin D deficiency has been implicated in various skin diseases, including atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the serum 25-hydroxy Vitamin D levels among patients with acne vulgaris. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional comparative study performed in Khartoum state at Military hospital, department of dermatology and venerology, 111 blood samples were collected from females to measure serum level of 25-hydroxy Vitamin D by immunoassay analyzer cobas-e-411-2ed generation platform of Electrochemiluminescence binding assay. RESULTS: In this study, 111 females their age 18–36 years. 57 suffering from acne vulgaris, 61.4% of them had moderate grade of acne. A significant decrease in the serum 25-hydroxy Vitamin D concentrations in acne vulgaris patients when compared to 54 non-acne group (13.3 ± 5.0 ng/mL vs. 24.2 ± 10.3 ng/mL p =0.00). Significant positive correlation between serum 25-OH Vitamin D and exposure to sunlight per day (r = 0.562, p = 0.00), while there was a significant negative correlation between 25-OH Vitamin D and grade of acne, and duration of disease per month (for grade of acne r = –0.641, p = 0.00), (for duration of disease r = –0.696, p = 0.00) among patients with acne vulgaris. CONCLUSION: The evidence from this study suggests that female with low serum 25- OH Vitamin D had increase risk to develop acne vulgaris. Further studies are needed to confirm this potential relation.