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Published on: August 7, 2017
Clinical effects of vitamin D in children with asthma
Mahmut Dogru1, Heves Kirmizibekmez, Rahime Gul Yesiltepe Mutlu
1Department of Pediatrics, Zeynep Kamil Maternity and Children's Disease Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Insights
Vitamin D deficiency is common in children with asthma, though overall vitamin D levels do not differ significantly between asthmatic and healthy children. Lower vitamin D levels correlate with increased asthma severity and exacerbations.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
- Nutritional Science
- Respiratory Medicine
Background:
- Asthma and vitamin D deficiency are prevalent in children, but their relationship remains unclear due to conflicting study results.
- Understanding this association is crucial for managing pediatric asthma effectively.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between clinical asthma parameters and vitamin D status in children.
- To determine if vitamin D deficiency is associated with asthma severity and exacerbations in pediatric patients.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 120 children diagnosed with asthma and 74 healthy children as controls.
- Measurement of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels, eosinophil counts, and immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels.
- Categorization of asthma patients based on vitamin D status: deficient, insufficient, and normal.
Main Results:
- No significant difference in mean vitamin D levels between children with asthma and controls.
- Vitamin D deficiency was observed in both asthmatic and control groups.
- Children with vitamin D deficiency experienced significantly more asthma exacerbations, higher asthma severity, and greater need for systemic glucocorticoids.
Conclusions:
- While overall vitamin D levels may not differ, vitamin D deficiency is linked to increased clinical severity and exacerbations in pediatric asthma.
- The findings suggest that addressing vitamin D deficiency could be a potential strategy in managing asthma in children.
- Further research is warranted to elucidate the precise role of vitamin D in pediatric asthma pathogenesis and management.
Objective:
Both asthma and vitamin D deficiency are common among children. The results from studies examining the relationship between them are contradictory. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between the clinical parameters of asthma and vitamin D status in children.
Methods:
One hundred and twenty children diagnosed with asthma and followed-up in our hospital were included in the study. The control group included 74 children with no evidence of allergic disease. The eosinophil counts, IgE levels and serum 25 OH cholecalciferol [25(OH)D] levels were measured.
Results:
The patient group consisted of 73 (60.8%) males and 47 (39.2%) females with a mean age of 4.4 ± 1.2 years. There was no significant difference between the patient and control groups with respect to gender and age. The mean 25(OH)D level was 21.49 ± 7.74 ng/ml in the study group and 23.94 ± 8.97 ng/ml in the control group, and this difference was not significant (p = 0.094). The patients with asthma were grouped according to their vitamin D status as 'deficient' (group 1), 'insufficient' (group 2) and 'normal' (group 3). The sociodemographic features, duration of illness, number of hospitalizations, number of sensitivities to allergens, eosinophil count and serum IgE levels were not found to be different between the groups. However, the total number of exacerbations, asthma severity and systemic glucocorticoid need in the previous year were significantly higher in the deficiency group (p < 0.05).
Conclusion:
Vitamin D levels were not significantly different in patients with asthma. Vitamin D deficiency was common in the study group as well as in the control group. The clinical severity of disease, the number of exacerbations and the systemic glucocorticoid need were related to vitamin D level.
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