Vitamin D Deficiency in HIV-Infected Children

Improvement in life expectancy with the use of combination antiretroviral therapy has come with the recognition of the complications associated with chronic human immunodeficiency virus infection. Vitamin D has been of particular interest because of its effect on bone health and immune functions. The purpose of this study was to assess vitamin D status in children in relation to the duration and severity of their human immunodeficiency virus infection and nutritional status, as well as to determine whether there was any effect of seasonality.

The study design was cross-sectional and all children 0 to 21 years of age were eligible to participate.

A total of 59 participants provided informed consent, with 54 subjects completing all study activities. Thirteen (24.1%) had sufficient vitamin D levels, 13 (24.1%) had insufficient levels, and 28 (51.9%) had deficient levels per the guidelines of the Endocrine Society. In our univariate analysis, younger age was associated with higher vitamin D levels (P = 0.030). Higher CD4 counts were associated with higher vitamin D levels (P = 0.018). A significant association between the vitamin D intake per day and vitamin D level was seen (P = 0.013). In the multivariate analysis, the best ordinal logistic regression model had the CD4 count as predictor (P < 0.005), higher CD4 counts were associated with decreased odds of vitamin D deficiency (odds ratio 0.47, 95% confidence interval 0.28-0.80).

Vitamin D deficiency was common among the patients included in this study.