Low doses of zinc gluconate for inflammatory acne.

The effect of zinc on acne is unclear. In this study, only patients with an inflammatory acne were included in a double-blind trial using low doses of zinc gluconate (200 mg/day, corresponding to 30 mg zinc metal). We obtained a significantly different result between zinc and placebo groups in the inflammatory score (p less than 0.02). This efficiency could be explained by the action of zinc on inflammatory cells, especially granulocytes.