Feasibility, Tolerability, Safety and Efficacy of a Pantothenic Acid Based Dietary Supplement in Subjects with Mild to Moderate Facial Acne Blemishes

Abstract

Objective: It has been suggested that pantothenic acid may have antibacterial and skin softening activity. The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility, tolerability, safety and preliminary efficacy of oral administration of a dietary supplement containing pantothenic acid in healthy human males and females with mild to moderate facial acne vulgaris.Methods: An open-label, single arm study of healthy adults who had been previously diagnosed with mild to moderate acne vulgaris was performed. Subjects were asked to take the study agent, a dietary supplement containing pantothenic acid, for eight weeks. The primary endpoint of the study was to assess the feasibility of oral administration of the study agent in subjects over an eight week period. Safety and tolerability were measured utilizing the assessment of adverse events by the National Cancer Institute's Common Criteria for Adverse Event Reporting. Secondary endpoints measuring the efficacy of an oral panthothetic acid dietary supplement for the treatment of mild to moderate facial acne utilized changes in the extent of global facial skin blemishes, assessment of quality of life utilizing the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and analysis of questions about the subject's beliefs and attitudes towards skin care and lifestyle. Results: Eleven subjects were enrolled and ten completed the study (90.9%). There were no reported adverse events. Of the 10 evaluable subjects, the average age (mean ± SD) was 31.8 ± 8. Analysis of the global number of skin blemishes demonstrated a significant mean reduction in lesion count following the use of the study agent at week 8 (endpoint) (11.18 ± 6.38, p = 0.02) compared to the average number of baseline blemishes (20.45 ± 10.44). DLQI scores were significantly lower at week 8 vs. baseline (p = 0.0194). Conclusions: The results from this study indicated that the administration of a pantothenic based dietary supplement in healthy human adults with mild to moderate acne vulgaris is feasible, safe and well tolerated. Secondary analysis shows that administration of the study agent significantly reduced global facial blemishes. Further randomized, placebo-controlled trials are warranted.

Skin collagen through the lifestages: importance for skin health and beauty

“…Furthermore, niacinamide regulates skin tone, helps minimise marks on the skin and reduce appearance of hyperpigmentation [52] . Clinical studies using daily oral supplementation containing pantothenic acid in healthy human adults with mild and moderate acne has shown the reduction of total facial acne and blemishes after 8-and 12-weeks respectively versus placebo control [53,54] . A deficiency in Vitamin D (25 hydroxyvitamin D3) was shown to correlate with increased severity of acne lesions, which could be mitigated by supplementation with oral cholecalciferol at 1000 IU/day for 2 months [55] .…”

Biological Properties of Vitamins of the B-Complex, Part 1: Vitamins B1, B2, B3, and B5

“…There was a significant reduction in lesion count from baseline 20.45 ± 10.44 to 11.18 ± 6.38 after eight weeks of treatment. Sixty percent of subjects reported a marked improvement, and 30% reported slight improvement, while one of the subjects reported no change [ 811 ]. The randomized, double blind placebo-controlled study proved the effectiveness of the same product on reduction of global facial lesions count [ 812 ].…”

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of a Novel Pantothenic Acid-Based Dietary Supplement in Subjects with Mild to Moderate Facial Acne

“…A recent feasibility study has also shown that daily oral supplementation of a nutritional agent containing pantothenic acid for 8 weeks was feasible and safe. Secondary endpoints of that study demonstrated that there was a reduction in total facial acne lesions over the 8-week study period [ 12 ]. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to further test the pantothenic acid-based supplement in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study to assess the effectiveness of the study agent in reducing global facial lesion count versus placebo over a 12-week study period.…”