Profile of Micronutrients in Patients Presenting with Pityriasis Alba in a Tertiary Care Center: A Case–control Study

Abstract

Pityriasis alba (PA) is a common, self-limiting skin disease of childhood. Several micronutrient deficiencies have been attributed to causing PA. Few studies have found a decreased level of serum zinc to be associated with PA, whereas other studies have found a deficiency of serum copper, magnesium, ferritin, and Vitamin D3 to be associated with PA. The objective of the study was to estimate the serum levels of micronutrients (zinc, copper, magnesium, and ferritin), hemoglobin (Hb), serum albumin, and Vitamin D3 in patients of PA and compare the same with that of controls. A total of 36 patients with PA and 36 controls were enrolled in the study. Five milliliters of venous blood will be obtained from both cases and controls to conduct the investigations. The serum levels of zinc, ferritin, magnesium, copper, Vitamin D3, hemoglobin, and serum albumin levels were detected. The data were analyzed statistically. In this study, we observed a low serum level of zinc associated with PA patients, when compared to healthy controls with P < 0.042. The serum levels of magnesium in cases were significantly low compared to controls with P < 0.002, which was statistically significant. Vitamin D and Hb levels were also significantly reduced in the PA patients. However, we did not find statistical significance between serum levels of copper, albumin, and ferritin in cases and controls with P = 0.408, P = 0.055, and P = 0.082, respectively. PA is a multifactorial etiological condition, in which micronutrient deficiency is an important cause and supplementation of micronutrients among these patients may be beneficial.