With certain kinds of ichthyosis like Autosomal recessive lamellar ichthyosis, the cholesterol levels will be elevated. X-linked recessive ichthyosis will cause the decrease in cholesterol level. With improper cholesterol and cholesterol sulfate levels we have the scaling of large pieces of skin cells. The improper cholesterol levels can be caused by a problem in the synthesis of lipids or the metabolism of the lipids in the epidermis. There is no cure for this disease.
Therapeutic goals are to treat the symptoms and make the skin look socially acceptable.
Treating ichthyosis is a life long battle that takes an enormous amount of time and effort. For severe cases systemic and topical treatments are used. The mild cases are usually topically treated. Vitamin A acid is used for the systemic treatment. This compound is a proven keratolytic agent.