EVALUATION OF SERUM ZINC LEVEL

SUDANESE FEMALES PATIENTS WITH ACNE VULGARISIN KHARTOUM STATE.

Abstract

Back ground: Acne vulgaris is a common chronic inflammatory disease of
the skin. Zinc is a trace element, exists in high amounts within the skin and especially the
epidermis. Its importance for human metabolism has been noted by the dramatic improvement
of acrodermatitis enteropathica following zinc supplementation. Objectives: To evaluate the
serum zinc level among patients with acne vulgaris, and to correlate age, grade and duration
of acne vulgaris with serum zinc level. Study Design: Case- control hospital base study.
Setting: Khartoum state at Khartoum Dermatology & Venerology Hospital. Period: February to
September 2017. Materials Methods: 100 samples were collected from patients attending to
Khartoum Dermatology & Venerology hospital suffering from acne vulgaris. Acne severity was
classified according to Global Acne Grading System (GAGS). In addition to other 100 samples
collected from healthy individuals (students and nurse) sex and age matched as control. The
levels of serum zinc was measured in each group by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Results:
The study showed significant decrease in the zinc concentrations in acne vulgaris patients
when compared with the reference group (0.207±0.04 mg/l versus 0.788 ± 0.14 mg/l) (p
=0.000). The study observed decreased serum zinc level with advancedgrade of acne; mild
47 patients (47%) (0.247 ± 0.05), moderate 33 (33%) (0.1925 ± 0.04) and severe in 20 (20%)
(0.180 ± 0.03), based on the anova test analysis mean serum zinc levels were significantly
lower in patients with mild to moderate and to severe acne vulgaris when compared between
acne vulgairs grades and with reference group(p ≤ 0.001, p ≤ 0.01, p ≤ 0.05 respectively).
The present study showed no correlation between zinc level (mg/l) and age in patient with acne
vulgaris (years) (r=0.032, P =0.827). On the other hand significant correlation was recorded
between serum zinc level (mg/l) and duration of the acne vulgaris in the study group (r=-0.311,
p = 0.028). Conclusion: Study revealed that serum zinc levels is significantly decreased in
patients with acne vulgaris, and prescribing zinc supplement treatments help increasing the
success rate of acne treatment.