Changes in vitamin D and calcium-phosphorus metabolism in patients with severe acute pancreatitis

The problem of predicting the course of acute pancreatitis and early diagnosis of its complications remains unresolved. This study aimed to determine changes in vitamin D and calcium-phosphorus metabolism in patients with severe acute pancreatitis.

There were examined 72 people divided into two groups as healthy persons (comparison group) - males and females without pathology of the gastrointestinal tract and any other conditions or diseases that could affect the state of calcium-phosphorus metabolism (n= 36) and patients with acute pancreatitis (main group, n= 36). In addition, in order to determine the prognostic criteria for the severity of the disease, patients in the main group were divided into two subgroups. The first subgroup included patients with severe disease (n= 18), the second (n= 18) - with mild and moderate disease.

Serum calcium value was lower in patients with severe acute pancreatitis comparison to healthy persons: 2.18 (2.12; 2.34) vs 2.36 (2.31; 2.43) mmol/L (p <0.0001), and the decrease of calcium levels was associated with an increase in the severity of acute pancreatitis. Therefore, hypocalcemia can be considered a reliable predictor of the severity of the disease. In patients with acute pancreatitis, the level of vitamin D was significantly low than in the healthy persons and was 13.8 (9.03; 21.34) and 28.4 (21.8; 32.3) ng/mL, respectively (p <0.0001).

For patients with acute pancreatitis, serum vitamin D levels≤ 13.28 ng/mL can be considered as a significant predictor of severe disease (sensitivity 83.3%, specificity 94.4%) regardless of calcium level.