Vitamins & Nutritional Supplements for Dermatitis Herpetiformis

People with DH frequently have mild malabsorption (difficulty absorbing certain nutrients) associated with low stomach acid (hypochlorhydria) and inflammation of the stomach lining (atrophic gastritis). Mild malabsorption may result inanemia and nutritional deficiencies of iron, folic acid, vitamin B12, and zinc. More severe malabsorption may result in loss of bone mass. Additional subtle deficiencies of vitamins and minerals are possible, but have not been investigated. Therefore, some doctors recommend people with DH have their nutritional status checked regularly with laboratory studies. These doctors may also recommend multivitamin-mineral supplements and, to correct the low stomach acid, supplemental betaine HCl (a source of hydrochloric acid).

Para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) in high amounts (9–24 grams per day) has been reported to reduce or eliminate the skin lesions of DH in one preliminary, clinical trial. With continued administration, people with DH remained symptom-free for as long as 30 months. Since supplementation with such large amounts of PABA has the potential to cause side effects, these amounts should be used only with medical supervision.

A deficiency in the selenium-containingantioxidant enzyme known as glutathione peroxidase has been reported in DH. Preliminary and double-blind trials suggest that supplementation with 10 IU of vitamin E and 200 mcg of selenium per day for six to eight weeks corrected this deficiency but did not lead to symptom improvement in the double-blind trial...