Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Nov;20(11):1053-7.
doi: 10.4103/1735-1995.172815.

Effects of oral vitamin E on treatment of atopic dermatitis: A randomized controlled trial

Fariba Jaffary  1 , Gita Faghihi  1 , Arghavan Mokhtarian  2 , Sayed Mohsen Hosseini  3
Affiliations

Effects of oral vitamin E on treatment of atopic dermatitis: A randomized controlled trial

Fariba Jaffary et al. J Res Med Sci. 2015 Nov.

Abstract

Background: The pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD) remains to be determined; recently a possible change in the immune system with production of immunoglobulins is proposed. As vitamin E is a potent antioxidant, with the ability to decrease the serum levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE) in atopic patients, we aimed to evaluate the effect of oral vitamin E on treatment of AD.

Materials and methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial comprised seventy participants with mild-to-moderate AD, based on the Hanifin and Rajka diagnostic criteria. The patients were randomly selected from teaching skin clinics in Isfahan, Iran. They were randomly assigned to two groups of equal number, receiving vitamin E (400 IU/day) and placebo for four 4 months. Each month, the extent, severity, and subjective symptoms including itch and sleeplessness were measured by SCORAD index. Three months after the end of intervention, the recurrence rate was assessed.

Results: The improvement in all symptoms, except sleeplessness, was significantly higher in the group receiving vitamin E than in controls (-1.5 vs. 0.218 in itching, -10.85 vs. -3.54 in extent of lesion, and -11.12 vs. -3.89 in SCORAD index, respectively, P < 0.05). Three months after the end of intervention, the recurrence rate of AD was evaluated. Recurrence rate between all 42 individuals, who remained in the study, was 18.6%. Recurrence ratio of the group receiving vitamin E compared to the placebo group was 1.17, without significant differences between the two groups (P > 0.05).

Conclusion: This study suggests that vitamin E can improve the symptoms and the quality of life in patients with AD. As vitamin E has no side effects with a dosage of 400 IU/day, it can be recommended for the treatment of AD.

Keywords: Atopic dermatitis (AD); SCORAD index; treatment; vitamin E.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Muro Y. Autoantibodies in atopic dermatitis. J Dermatol Sci. 2001;25:171–8. - PubMed
    1. Tada J, Toi Y, Yoshioka T, Fujiwara H, Arata J. Antinuclear antibodies in patients with atopic dermatitis and severe facial lesions. Dermatology. 1994;189:38–40. - PubMed
    1. Hanifin GM, Rajka G. Diagnostic Features of atopic dermatitis. Acta Derm Venereol Suppl (Stockh) 1980;92:44–7.
    1. Kang KF, Tian RM. Atopic dermatitis. An evaluation of clinical and laboratory findings. Int J Dermatol. 1987;26:27–32. - PubMed
    1. Callard RE, Harper JI. The skin barrier, atopic dermatitis and allergy: A role for Langerhans cells? Trends Immunol. 2007;28:294–8. - PubMed