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06.06.2023

With or without hydrocortisone, supplementing with vitamin D reduces eczema

According to a British meta-study, supplementation with 1600 IU or 40 micrograms of vitamin D per day reduces eczema. According to a small trial from Egypt, this dose enhances the positive effect of a gel containing the mild corticosteroid hydrocortisone.

Meta-study
In 2019, researchers from the University of Surrey published a meta-study in which they compiled the available scientific studies on vitamin D and eczema, aggregated the findings and reanalyzed them. [Nutrients. 2019 Aug 9;11(8):1854.]

These studies showed that people with eczema tended to have lower vitamin D levels than those without eczema. The Brits additionally found 3 trails in which eczema patients received vitamin D. This reduced the severity of their eczema by just over 20 percent.

Click on the figure below for a larger version.

The doses used ranged from 1000-2000 IU or 25-50 micrograms of vitamin D3 per day. On average, subjects received 1600 IU or 40 micrograms of vitamin D3 per day. Results were better if the supplementation period was longer than 3 months.

Trial
Dermatologists often treat eczema with an ointment containing a mild corticosteroid, such as hydrocortisone. Researchers at Mansoura University in Egypt wanted to know whether vitamin D supplementation would make sense even if eczema patients were using a corticosteroid.

To answer this question, they had about eighty eczema patients aged 5-16 years rub their eczema with an ointment containing hydrocortisone twice a day for 12 weeks. While half of the subjects took a placebo, the other half took a supplement containing 1600 IU or 40 micrograms of vitamin D.

By the way, most subjects had low vitamin D levels. Out of every 5 subjects, only 1 had an adequate vitamin D status.

As you would expect, in the supplementation group, vitamin D levels rose. When the 12 weeks were over, more than 90 percent in that group had good vitamin D status. There was a decrease in eczema in both groups, but this decrease was greater in the vitamin D group.

Mechanism
The immune system needs vitamin D to function properly. Vitamin D supplementation in eczema patients may be able to activate immune cells that help curb excessive inflammatory responses, the Brits write in their meta-study.

Another possible mechanism of action is that vitamin D improves the structure of the skin, reducing the impact of substances that irritate the immune system.

Source:
Pharmacol Res Perspect. 2020 Dec;8(6):e00679.

More:
EPA reduces eczema 31.05.2023

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