Lower vit D levels inversely associated with markers of allergy and asthma severity in children

January 01, 0001

Lower vit D levels inversely associated with markers of allergy and asthma severity in children

Maternal vitamin D intake during pregnancy has been inversely associated with asthma symptoms in early childhood. However, no previous study has examined the relationship between measured vitamin D levels and markers of asthma severity in childhood. The aim of this study by researchers from the US and Costa Rica was to determine the relationship between measured vitamin D levels and both markers of asthma severity and allergy in childhood. They examined the relation between 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (the major circulating form of vitamin D) and markers of allergy and asthma severity in a cross-sectional study of 616 Costa Rican children between the ages of 6 and 14 years.

Of the 616 children with asthma, 175 (28%) had insufficient levels of vitamin D (<30 ng/ml). In multivariate linear regression models, vitamin D levels were significantly and inversely associated with total IgE and eosinophil count. In multivariate logistic regression models, a log10 unit increase in vitamin D levels was associated with reduced odds of any hospitalization in the previous year (odds ratio [OR

"Our results suggest that vitamin D insufficiency is relatively frequent in an equatorial population of children with asthma. In these children, lower vitamin D levels are associated with increased markers of allergy and asthma severity."

This is an association (and only with markers, not clinical diagnoses) and much further research is needed before we know if improving vitamin D levels will prevent or improve allergy and asthma.

For the full abstract, click here.

American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 179:765-771, May 2009 © 2009 American Thoracic Society
Serum Vitamin D Levels and Markers of Severity of Childhood Asthma in Costa Rica. John M. Brehm, Juan C. Celedón, Manuel E. Soto-Quiros et al. Correspondence to Juan C. Celedón MD: [email protected]

Category: R. Respiratory, T. Endocrine/Metabolic/Nutritional. Keywords: vitamin D, serum levels, markers, severity, asthma, childhood, Costa Rica, relationship, cross-sectional study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Stephen Wilkinson, Melbourne, Australia. Posted on Global Family Doctor 7 October 2011

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.