Assessment of Serum Vitamin D Levels in Children With Pityriasis Alba: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Objective: This study was performed to analyze the correlation between pityriasis alba (PA) and the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D status in children. Methods: The study population comprised 460 patients with PA and 254 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D was compared between the two groups by student t test. Results: The serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D was significantly lower in patients with PA than in healthy controls (P < 0.001). There were statistically significant differences in the serum vitamin D status between the PA group and control group (P < 0.001); specifically, patients with PA had a significantly higher frequency of vitamin D deficiency (52.83% vs. 24.35%, P = 0.001) and lower frequency of vitamin D sufficiency (22.83% vs. 37.01%, P < 0.001) than controls. PA patients showed significantly lower serum level of vitamin D than controls in deficient and sufficient groups (P = 0.005 and 0.027, respectively), and in insufficient group, serum vitamin D level was lower in PA patients than in controls, but it showed no statistical difference (P = 0.061). Conclusion: Vitamin D may play a role in the pathogenesis of PA. Further investigations are required to establish the relationship between the severity of PA and the vitamin D status and to evaluate the potential for use of vitamin D in the treatment of PA.