Possible Relationship Between Poor Skin Disorders Prognosis and Serum Zinc Level: A Narrative Review

July 2022 in “ Dermatology Reports ”

Mohammed Al Abadie, Zinah Sharara, Miriam Abadie, Patrick Ball, Hana Morrissey

zinc serum zinc level psoriasis atopic dermatitis pityriasis alba androgenetic alopecia alopecia areata telogen effluvium vitiligo melasma acne seborrheic dermatitis hidradenitis suppuritiva zinc supplementation chronic inflammatory skin diseases autoimmune skin diseases hair loss skin disorders

TLDR Low zinc levels might be linked to worse outcomes in various skin disorders.

This narrative review evaluated the association between zinc status and various skin disorders, including psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, pityriasis alba, androgenetic alopecia areata, telogen effluvium, vitiligo, melasma, acne, seborrheic dermatitis, and hidradenitis suppuritiva. The review included 48 research studies conducted from January 2017 to June 2021. The results showed that 33 of these studies found statistically significant differences in serum zinc levels between patients with these skin disorders and controls, with a predominance of low serum zinc levels in all the dermatoses reviewed. This suggests that zinc supplementation could potentially be used as an adjuvant therapy in the management of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune skin diseases that have been proven to manifest altered zinc levels.

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