Exploring The Influence Of Vitamin D In The Management Of Acne Vulgaris: A Pilot Study

Abstract Objective: The study aimed to explore the potential benefits of vitamin D supplementation in improving acne severity. Methods: This pilot study was carried out at HIT Hospital, Taxila. The study included nine female patients aged between 12 and 30 years, with acne vulgaris and having deficient serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D) levels (<30 nmol/L). Exclusion criteria included the use of topical or oral treatments for acne, including retinoids, as well as those with a history of multivitamin or systemic steroid intake, and patients with any chronic disease. Global Acne Grading (GAG) score was used to assess the severity of acne vulgaris. Patients received a daily dosage of 1000 IU of vitamin D drops per day for 2 months so that vitamin D deficiency is corrected. After 2 months, the GAG score was re-calculated and documented. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 28. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 18.33 years (SD= 3.3 Years). A statistically insignificant association (p=0.49) and weak positive correlation (r= 0.17, p=0.65) were observed between Vit D levels and acne Status and GAG-1 score on applying chi-square test and Pearson correlation respectively. A paired-sample t-test showed a significant difference in the GAG-1 Score (Mean=25.44, SD=7.6) and GAG-2 Score (M=15.1, SD=4.5) after Vit D supplementation. t (5.3), (p= 0.001). Conclusion: The results suggest that correcting vitamin D deficiency through supplementation resulted in a significant improvement in acne severity.  

Clinical and histological spectrum of hepatitis C disease associated with persistently normal alanine aminotransferase levels

Background: Around 20% of patients with chronic hepatitis C infection (HCV) have persistently normal alanine aminotransferase (PNALT) levels. These patients are considered to have mild degree of histological hepatic damage. This study was conducted to compare the histological degree of necro-inflammation and stage of fibrosis among HCV patients with PNALT and patients with persistently or intermittently elevated serum ALT (PIEALT) levels..Methods: This study includes 154 untreated patients with serological and histological diagnosis of chronic HCV infection. A total of 70 patients with PNALT (group A) and 84 patients with PIEALT (group B) were identified and treated with 6 months interferon therapy. Histological grade of necro-inflammatory activity and the stage of fibrosis was evaluated by Ishak scoring system. HCV-RNA quantification was done by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Further univariate and multivariate analysis was done to evaluate correlation between patients characteristics and significant hepatic fibrosis..Results: Out of one hundred and fifty four patients, mean ALT was 30.59 ± 5.59 U/L in group A as compare to 68.65 ± 23.17 U/L in group B (p = 0.001). Patients with PNALT were younger (p = 0.005) with milder grade of necrosis (p = 0.037), lower serum HCV viral load (p = 0.044) and significant achievement of sustained virological response (p = 0.012) as compare to patients with abnormal ALT. Different variable were also analysed by univariate and mutivaraite analysis among patients with significant and insignificant fibrosis. High serum HCV-RNA level was found to be the independent variable predictive of advanced fibrosis among HCV infected patients (OR = 0.89; 95% CI = 1.65-1.94; p < 0.001) with r2 = 80%.Conclusions: Our study suggests that normal serum ALT does not mean healthy liver. So, histological evaluation is still an essential tool to assess liver damage precisely

Prevalence Of Suboptimal Health Status Amongst General Population of Residential Area, Heavy Industries Taxila, Taxila

Objective: Determine the prevalence of suboptimal health levels and find an association between suboptimal health and lifestyle factors in a population of residential area HIT Taxila Methods: A community-based Descriptive Cross-sectional study was conducted in  HIT Taxila, Jun-Nov 2023 on 400 individuals of age groups ranging from 20 to 60 years including males and females via systematic random sampling. Data was collected by Suboptimal Health Measurement (SHMS V1.0) scale including general, physical, mental and social subdomains and demographic and lifestyle factors. Chi-square was tested to determine the association between suboptimal health and demographic characteristics. Correlation was used to assess the correlation between suboptimal health and lifestyle-related factors Results: A final sample of 400 participants was included. In our sample,86(21.5%) had suboptimal health with a mean age of 29.96±9.3 years. Sub-optimal Health status was found to be significantly associated with gender(0.005), age(0.006), working status (0.015)and occupation(0.000). Health status was found to be weak and negatively correlated with social support (p-value 0.01) and a weak positive correlation was observed between nutritional habits and health status (p-value 0.05) Conclusion: SHS is significantly associated with behavior and lifestyle-related factors. To comprehensively prevent and control SHS, it is urgently needed to reduce the risk factors and enhance the protective factors among adolescents.