Gastroenterology and Hepatology from Bed to Bench

Abstract

Background and aim: Vitamin D has immune-regulatory functions in experimental inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and vitamin D deficiency is common in IBD patients. The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of vitamin D₃ [1,25(OH)₂D₃] treatment in IBD with regard to tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-?) serum level and  clinical disease activity index (CDAI).

Materials and methods: This was a double blind randomized clinical trial on 108 IBD patients with serum 25-OHD level less than 30ng/ml, whom divided into vitamin D and control groups. Vitamin D group received 50000 IU vitamin D₃ for 12 weeks. Before and after the study, TNF-? and 25-OHD serum levels were measured by ELISA method. Data were analyzed using paired t test, chi-square test and Spearman correlation coefficient. P values ??less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results: Before the intervention no significant difference was found between baseline characteristics and TNF-? serum level of two groups. After intervention TNF-? serum level reduced but this reduction was not statistically significant (P= 0.07, 95% CI: -0.45 to 8.14). The mean serum 25-OHD level of vitamin D increased from 15.54 to 67.89, which was statistically significant (P= 0.00, 95% CI: -61.40 to -43.30).  TNF-? level was also associated significantly with CDAI before (Spearman’s rho: 0.3, P<0.0001) and after (Spearman’s rho: 0.27, P=0.01) intervention.

Conclusion: Oral supplementation vitamin D₃ significantly increased serum vitamin D levels and insignificantly reduced serum TNF-? level. More studies with larger samples would be beneficial to assess vitamin D₃ supplementation efficient effect in IBD.