Serum Levels of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D in Patients with Seborrheic Dermatitis: A Case-Control Study.

Siavash Rahimi,Negar Nemati,Seyedeh Sareh Shafaei-Tonekaboni,E Helen Kemp

doi:10.1155/2021/6623271

Siavash Rahimi, Negar Nemati + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6623271

Copy DOI

Abstract

Several autoimmune papulosquamous skin conditions such as psoriasis, systemic lupus erythematous, and lichen planus have been associated with vitamin D deficiency or correlated with serum vitamin D level. This study was aimed at comparing the 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) status in patients with facial or scalp seborrheic dermatitis with healthy subjects. This case-control study included 289 patients (118 with psoriasis and 171 sex- and age-matched control subjects) from the outpatient clinic of two hospital dermatology departments in the west of Mazandaran province, Iran. All patients and control subjects were studied during one season to avoid seasonal variations in vitamin D levels. Serum mean ± standard deviation of 25(OH)D levels were signiﬁcantly lower in seborrheic dermatitis patients than in control subjects (20.71 ± 8.16 vs. 23.91 ± 7.78, P = 0.007). Serum 25(OH)D levels were negatively associated with the risk of developing seborrheic dermatitis (odds ratio (OR): 0.898, 95% confidence interval (Cl): 0.840–0.960, P = 0.002). Also, vitamin D under 30 ng/ml was associated with OR: 4.22 (95% Cl: 1.077–16.534, P = 0.039) for seborrheic dermatitis. The severity of scalp disease was significantly associated with serum 25(OH)D level (P = 0.003). Cases with severe scalp scores had significantly lower serum 25(OH)D level compared to moderate OR score (P = 0.036). A similar trend was not seen in the facial disease. The 25(OH)D values are signiﬁcantly lower in seborrheic dermatitis patients than in healthy subjects. Furthermore, the scalp disease severity was associated with lower serum 25(OH)D level. Our results may suggest that vitamin D may play a role in the pathogenesis of seborrheic dermatitis.

Highlights

Seborrheic dermatitis is a highly prevalent chronic inflammatory skin condition
No study has evaluated the association of vitamin D deficiency and seborrheic dermatitis, several studies have evaluated the efficacy of topical analogs of vitamin D in seborrheic dermatitis
Basak and Ergin showed that calcipotriol (50 μg/mL) solution was inferior to betamethasone valerate (1 mg/mL) solution for scalp seborrheic dermatitis after four weeks of treatment [19]

Summary

Introduction

Seborrheic dermatitis is a highly prevalent chronic inflammatory skin condition. Seborrheic dermatitis is characterized by its erythematous papulosquamous morphology with greasy scales in sebaceous gland rich areas, the scalp, face, and body folds. E pathogenesis or associated risk factors of seborrheic dermatitis are currently not fully understood. Recent investigations have shown that Malassezia spp. direct and indirect interaction with the skin immune system is elaborated in the pathogenesis of seborrheic dermatitis [3]. Malassezia spp. produce lipases and phosphatases that can degrade sebaceous triglycerides, resulting in an increase in free fatty acids, which may cause activation of toll-like receptor- (TLR-) 2 and induce inflammatory cascade [4]. Free fatty acids can induce keratinocytes to express thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), which can induce inflammation with an essential role in directing dendritic cells to stimulate the initiation and progression, a 2 response [5]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion