Mohan Rao Munnaluri1 , Sravan Chittla2 , Nihal Perumalla3
BACKGROUND Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory condition of the pilosebaceous unit which occurs in adolescent age groups. Physical and psychological scars can create social issues in the family, school and workplace. The disorder is multifactorial. There are plenty of recovery choices but are not satisfactory. We wanted to investigate the serum zinc levels and the therapeutic utility of oral zinc supplementation in acne vulgaris patients. METHODS This is a prospective study conducted over a period of one and a half years among one hundred acne patients who reported to the outpatient clinic of the Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology with untreated patients of acne vulgaris. RESULTS Males were 65 % and females were 35 % with male : female ratio of 6.5 : 3.5. Most of the patients were students occupying 71 % of the study. Family history was observed in 46 % of patients, either in the siblings or in the parents. Premenstrual flare-up of acne lesions was noted in 71.42 % of female patients indicating a pivotal role of hormones in the pathogenesis of acne. Aggravation of lesions in summer was noted in 45 % of patients. Aggravation of acne lesions with different types of diet like non-vegetarian food, oily food and chocolates was noticed in 69 % of the study. History of usage of different types of cosmetics available in the market was noted in 76 % of the patients. In the present study, 62 % had lower than normal serum zinc levels and 38 % had normal serum zinc levels. Thus, serum zinc levels were found to be lower in both male and female acne patients in the majority (62 %) of the study patients and also normal healthy controls. The fasting serum zinc levels in the 62 patients before and after oral zinc sulphate were estimated after completion of 3 months treatment. Normal serum zinc levels were observed in all 62 patients treated. CONCLUSIONS Oral zinc sulphate is an effective, safe and economic remedy in the treatment of acne vulgaris. The extra advantage with oral zinc sulphate is that it is devoid of many adverse reactions commonly seen after prolonged use of systemic antibiotics.
