Acne and hyperandrogenism: impact of lowering androgen levels with glucocorticoid treatment

Abstract

The impact of lowering androgen levels with glucocorticoid treatment in a group of consecutive female patients presenting to the Department of Reproductive Medicine and Biology, University of Texas, with a chief complaint of acne has been studied. One hundred fifty-eight patients, ages 16 to 40, who received prednisone at a maximum daily dose ranging from 7.5 to 15 mg for a period of at least 6 months were selected for the study. These patients were not taking other systemic medication affecting androgens or acne. Only thirty patients (19%) had pretreatment testosterone levels below the upper limits (40 ng/dl) of our normal range; while on treatment 146 patients (92.4%) had testosterone levels below 40 ng/dl. In sixty-three patients (39.9%) the acne completely cleared, in eighty patients (50.6%) it significantly improved, and in only fifteen patients (9.5%) was the acne not affected by the medication. There was a highly significant difference between the mean testosterone levels during treatment of those who cleared or improved, versus those who did not (p less than 0.05), the percentage drop in testosterone being greatest in those who cleared. Pretreatment testosterone levels were not significantly different in those who cleared, improved or did neither. It is concluded that glucocorticoid treatment frequently results in a lowering of androgen levels in hyperandrogenic women with acne and that this is associated with clearing or improvement of the acne.