Sadaf Shaheen, Zahra Arooba, Mah-e Neema Asghar, Shahbaz Aman, Tahir Jamil Ahmad.
Frequency of serum zinc deficiency in diagnosed patients with melasma.
J Pak Assoc Derma Jan ;33(4):1442-5.

Objective: Melasma is a commonly acquired hyperpigmentation of sun exposed areas of skin especially on face. Zinc is a trace element that is essential for numerous enzymatic processes. The objective of the study is to find serum zinc deficiency in diagnosed patients of melasma.   Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out at department of dermatology, Mayo hospital Lahore from July 7, 2018 till Jan 7, 2019. A total of 150 diagnosed cases of melasma were included. Samples of venous blood were taken and analysed for serum zinc levels. Zinc level was labeled low if it was below cut off value of 100ug /dL.   Results: Of 150 cases, 118 (78.7%) were females and 32(21.3%) were males, with mean age of patients being 29.77±5.96 years. A total of 67 (44.7%) cases had epidermal, 61 (40.7%) had dermal and 22 (14.7%) had mixed type of melasma. A total of 53 (35.3%) cases had mild, 64 (42.7%) cases had moderate and 33 (22%) cases had severe melasma. Zinc deficiency was found in 65 (43.3%) cases while 85 (56.7%) cases had normal zinc levels.   Conclusion: Zinc supplementation can be recommended in conventional treatment of melasma to obtain maximum outcome.  

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