Journal Reading

Salty and spicy food; are they involved in the

pathogenesis of acne vulgaris?
A case controlled study
Anindya Anjas Putriavi - 1102014027

Pembimbing:
dr. Yanto Widiantoro, Sp.KK
dr. Hilman Wildan Latief, Sp.DV
INTRODUCTION

A wide variety of food items have been postulated to be associated with

acne exacerbation including milk, chocolate, cereal and non-nutrient
dietary variables such as high-glycemic index foods and salt

The relation between acne vulgaris and the consumption of

salty or spicy food has been overlooked in the literature in
comparison with the highlight on other dietary elements

Many of our patients reported acne exacerbation

upon consumption of salty or spicy food

To investigate the relation between those

food items and the exacerbation of acne vulgaris
MATERIALS 200 patients with
& METHODS acne vulgaris

A QUESTIONNAIRE FORM:
200 age- and gender-
1 Personal & social information matched volunteers with
no history or current acne
2 Age of onset Duration
Severity Current treatment The pattern of consumption
3 of different food items was
Belief made using the frequency
food sheet
24 h Recall (Food Intake):
• Previous day
Daily Monthly
• Household measures of food items
were converted to grams (slice, piece)
MATERIALS
1

& METHODS
CLINICIAL EXAMINATION:
• Evaluate the type and severity of 2

acne
• Acne grading was performed
using the International
Consensus on Acne
Classification 3
 Demographic Data

RESULTS
Clinical Data
From clinical examination of the studied (200) patients with acne vulgaris
 SALTY FOOD

The amount of sodium consumed by:

• patients with acne per day: 1.837 to 18.274,25 mg
• the controls: 1.000 to 4.991,08 mg (P < 0.001)
Recommended Daily Amount (RDA) of sodium: 2.400 mg/day
(The joint FAO/WHO expert consultation on human vitamin and mineral requirements)
 SALTY FOOD

• The amount of NaCl intake by patients with acne showed significantly

negative correlation with the age of onset of the disease (r = –0.216; P = 0.031)

• It also did not correlate with the duration or the severity of acne (P = 0.18, P = 0.993)

👨 1.837,93 – 18.274,25 mg
Median 3.336,54 mg 👩 1.812,4 – 7.737,95 mg
Median 2.827,43 mg
NaCl Consumption

34% of patients with acne (n = 68) reported increase in the

severity of their disease following the intake of salty food
The amount of spicy food consumed by:
• Patients with acne: 2.936,64 ± 614,8 g
• The controls: 2.884,86 ± 415,7 g
The difference was not significantly correlate (P = 0.919)
SPICY FOOD

The amount of spicy food consumption by patients with acne

did not significantly correlate with the age of onset, duration,
or severity of acne
(P = 0.157, P = 0.052, P = 0.609)

21% 21% of patients with acne reported that

spicy food exacerbated their acne
DISCUSSION
 Follicular keratinocyte
NaCl
proliferation and
differentiation
2

+ Propionibacterium acne Earlier onset of acne

ACNE
1

Inflammation and
the balance of Sebum
synthesis Possible role in
steroid hormones
the pathogenesis
of acne
 SALTY FOOD

👨 21,7%
Severe acne
NaCl
Contribution of
Hormonal

👩 14,3% Imbalance
Severe acne

SPICY FOOD

May not play an important role in the

pathogenesis of acne as does salty food
Limitation
Small sample size

Recommendation:
• Larger well-consorted studies to further verify the relation
of salty diet to acne through examining multiple
nutritional factors
• Studying and comparing different populations could be of
much interest because some population groups have a
reduced capacity of sodium excretion which may be
genetic or may be related to their habitual or traditional
dietary consumption of large amounts of sodium
Conclusion
• It could be suggested that the intake of high
amounts of salty food could contribute to the
pathogenesis of acne and could be related to an
earlier onset of the disease

• Accordingly, acne prone age groups should be

advised to decrease their salt intake
Thank You!