DOI: 10.5061/dryad.bvq83bk9z
title: Assessment of plasma testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone levels in Vietnam female patients with moderate to severe acne vulgaris

description: Introduction: Acne is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the
 pilosebaceous unit with differential pathogenesis. To elucidate the roles
 of hormones in acne pathogenesis, we conducted a study to evaluate the
 plasma testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone levels in women with acne
 vulgaris. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive
 study, and 140 women with acne vulgaris were examined; their
 plasma estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone were analyzed by
 chemiluminescence technique and compared with the healthy control group.
 Results: Increased plasma hormone levels in women with acne
 vulgaris accounted for 33.57%, and hyperandrogenism accounted for 20.71%
 of cases. We found significant differences in testosterone levels (mean
 value, 56.92 ± 27.64ng/dL, 60.71± 25.85ng/dL versus 38.35 ± 10.09ng/dL,
 p&lt;0.05), respectively, in the moderate to severe acne group and the
 control group. However, the estradiol level of the moderate and severe
 acne groups (325.12 ± 91.79 and 305.26 ± 83.01pmol/l) was lower than the
 control group (368.6 ± 58.34pmol/l), with p-value under 0.05. No
 statistically significant differences were found for progesterone
 levels.  Conclusion: Our study showed that female
 patients with moderate to severe acne vulgaris had abnormalities in plasma
 testosterone and estradiol levels. These abnormalities might be part roles
 in the pathogenesis of acne vulgaris, even when the mean levels were in
 the normal range. Female patients suffering from premenstrual acne flares
 might be examined for plasma testosterone levels.
description: We selected female acne patients aged between 16
 and 30 who had not
 received drugs causing acne (glucocorticoids, lithium, isoniazid,
 phenytoin, selective reuptake serotonin inhibitors) or hormonal therapy
 (hormonal contraceptive and anti-androgen therapy) for at least three
 months before joining the study. Age-matched healthy volunteers without
 acne, pregnancy, or lactation served as the control group. None of the
 participants had been treated with hormonal treatment at this time of the
 study. All patients of each group were asked about history taken,
 throughout local and general clinical examinations to rule out any
 suspected similar diagnosis or other local and systemic disorders which
 contraindicate the patients from participating in this study. PCOS was
 also excluded by the manifestation of hyperandrogenism (hirsutism,
 oligomenorrhea) and confirmed with transvaginal and pelvic
 ultrasound. <em>Acne severity grading:</em> The severity
 of acne was determined according to the Global Acne Grading System
 (GAGS). <sup>6</sup>Each
 type of acneiform lesion has a gravity score: no lesions: 0; comedones: 1;
 papules: 2; pustules: 3; and nodules: 4. The local score was calculated
 using factor × grade 0-4. Depending on the acne lesion location, the
 factor had the following values: forehead: 2; right cheek: 2; left cheek:
 2; chin: 1; thorax and upper torso: 1. The sum of the local scores was the
 global score which settled acne severity. In our study, a global score of
 1-18 signified mild acne, 19-30 was moderate acne, and a global score
 &gt; 31 was severe acne. <em>Endocrine evaluation:</em> Each patient
 performed a hormonal profile, including testosterone, estradiol, and
 progesterone. Blood samples were collected at 08:00 am on the second to
 the fourth day of menses (the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle).
 Each 4 mL of venous blood was centrifuged and plasma stored at -20°C.
 Hormone levels were measured by using direct chemiluminescent technology
 in the Unicel <sup>®</sup> DXI800 machine. Units: testosterone
 for ng/dL, estradiol for pmol/L, progesterone for ng/mL. Women’s
 testosterone normal levels were considered as ≤0.86 ng/mL; estradiol
 ranged from 74–532 pmol/L; progesterone was ≤1 ng/mL.
description: The readme file contains an
 explanation of each of the variables in the dataset, its measurement
 units, and -if it concerns a derived variable (displayed in grey) - the
 way it was calculated from the primary data (displayed in black). #NA = 
 values not available. Information on how the measurements were done can be
 found in the associated manuscript referenced
 above.