Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration is inversely associated with mucosal inflammation in patients with ulcerative colitis1,2

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition 2016-07, Vol.104 (1), p.113-120
• Main Authors: Meckel, Katherine, Li, Yan Chun, Lim, John, Kocherginsky, Masha, Weber, Chris, Almoghrabi, Anas, Chen, Xindi, Kaboff, Austin, Sadiq, Farhana, Hanauer, Stephen B, Cohen, Russell D, Kwon, John, Rubin, David T, Hanan, Ira, Sakuraba, Atsushi, Yen, Eugene, Bissonnette, Marc, Pekow, Joel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: inflammatory bowel disease; mucosal inflammation; tight junction; ulcerative colitis; vitamin D
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.115.123786

Background: Vitamin D exerts anti-inflammatory actions both in vitro and in murine models of colitis. In previous studies, we demonstrated that vitamin D protects against the development of colitis by maintaining the integrity of the intestinal mucosal barrier. Objective: We sought to evaluate whether deficient serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations are associated with increased mucosal inflammation, a loss of epithelial junctional proteins, and an increase in mucosal inflammatory cytokines in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Design: We prospectively enrolled 230 subjects with UC. Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were compared with the Mayo endoscopic score, the total Mayo score, and histologic activity. Colonic mucosal expression concentrations of vitamin D receptor (VDR), E-cadherin, zonula occluden 1 (ZO-1), occludin, claudin-2, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and interleukin 8 (IL-8) were compared between dichotomous groups with low or high serum 25(OH)D concentrations. Results: The mean serum 25(OH)D concentration was 21.8 ng/mL. Subjects stratified by concentrations included 12.6% ≥30 ng/mL, 45.6% ≥20 to