Correlation of Serum 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D and Interleukin-17 Levels with Disease Severity in Acne Vulgaris

Ajeet Singh; Ananta Khurana; Kabir Sardana; Niharika Dixit; Anubhuti Chitkara

doi:10.4103/ijd.IJD_551_19

Correlation of Serum 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D and Interleukin-17 Levels with Disease Severity in Acne Vulgaris

Indian J Dermatol. 2021 May-Jun;66(3):291-296. doi: 10.4103/ijd.IJD_551_19.

Authors

Ajeet Singh¹, Ananta Khurana¹, Kabir Sardana¹, Niharika Dixit¹, Anubhuti Chitkara¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Dermatology and Biochemistry, PGIMER and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital New Delhi, Delhi, India.

Abstract

Background: The association of Vitamin D (vit.D) and Interleukin 17 (IL-17) with acne vulgaris is uncertain in spite of induction of IL-17 by Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) and the role of vit.D in various inflammatory skin disorders including acne. The objectives of present study were to evaluate the levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D] and IL-17 in acne patients and age- and sex-matched controls and to compare them with the severity of acne as measured by Global Acne Grading System (GAGS).

Methods: The study included 50 patients of acne and 30 healthy controls. Serum 25(OH) D and IL-17 levels were measured using chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively.

Results: Vitamin D deficiency was detected in 28% of patients with acne but only in 6.7% of the healthy controls (P value 0.022). The levels of 25(OH)D were inversely associated with the severity of acne (P < 0.001). The mean serum IL-17 levels were significantly raised (P < 0.001) in acne patients (8.215 ± 5.33 pg/mL) as compared to controls (2.486 ± 2.12 pg/mL). A significant rise in levels of IL-17 was observed with the severity of acne (P < 0.001). Further, a highly significant negative correlation (Correlation Coefficient: -0.668) was noted between serum IL-17 and 25(OH) D levels along with disease severity in acne patients (P value < 0.001).

Conclusions: Raised IL-17 levels in acne correlate negatively with vit.D deficiency and both are significantly more prevalent in patients with acne as compared to healthy controls.

Keywords: Acne vulgaris; interleukin-17; vitamin D.