Hypovitaminosis D in Adults with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Potential Role of Ethnicity

• Published in: Digestive diseases and sciences 2012-08, Vol.57 (8), p.2144-2148
• Main Authors: Fu, Yi-Tzu Nancy, Chatur, Nazira, Cheong-Lee, Cindy, Salh, Baljinder
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Alfacalcidol; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Biochemistry; C-reactive protein; Calcifediol; Colitis, Ulcerative - complications; Colitis, Ulcerative - ethnology; Crohn Disease - complications; Crohn Disease - ethnology; Diagnosis; European Continental Ancestry Group; Female; Ferritin; Gastroenterology; Hemoglobin; Hepatology; Humans; Inflammatory bowel disease; Male; Medical research; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Medicine, Experimental; Middle Aged; Oncology; Original Article; Pneumoviridae; Prospective Studies; Severity of Illness Index; Transplant Surgery; Ulcerative colitis; Vitamin D; Vitamin D Deficiency - ethnology; Vitamin D Deficiency - etiology
• ISSN: 0163-2116; 1573-2568
• DOI: 10.1007/s10620-012-2130-7

Background Although vitamin D deficiency occurs in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), it is currently unclear to what extent ethnicity affects vitamin D levels. Our aim was therefore to determine the ethnic variation in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D status and its association with disease severity in adults with IBD. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study in ambulatory care IBD patients. Clinical disease severity was assessed through validated questionnaires. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were used for vitamin D status. C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin and hemoglobin (Hgb) levels were correlated with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. Results Sixty ulcerative colitis (UC) and forty Crohn’s disease (CD) patients were enrolled comprising 65 % Caucasians and 29 % South Asians. However, South Asians had consistently lower average serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (All 44.8 ± 18.1 nmol/L, UC 48.2 ± 18.3 nmol/L, CD 24.3 ± 13.3 nmol/L). Hypovitaminosis D was found in 39 % of All, 36.7 % of UC and 42.5 % of CD patients. A significantly higher proportion of South Asians were vitamin D deficient when compared to Caucasians in All and CD groups (58.6 % vs. 30.8 %, p = 0.01 and 85.7 % vs. 32.3 %, p < 0.01, respectively). Conclusions A significantly higher percentage of South Asians had hypovitaminosis D when compared to Caucasians. Disease severity trended towards an inverse relationship with vitamin D status in all South Asian and Caucasian CD patients, although most patients in this study had only mild to moderate disease. We suggest that vitamin D supplementation should be considered in all adult IBD patients.