Correlation of serum vitamin D levels with severity of pediatric atopic dermatitis and the impact of vitamin D supplementation on treatment outcomes

Abstract

Introduction

There is scarcity of prospective studies assessing the correlation between vitamin D deficiency and atopic dermatitis (AD).

Materials and methods

We conducted a prospective study where in serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels were measured in 35 AD patients and 35 age and sex-matched controls. AD patients deficient in vitamin D were supplemented with 1000 IU of vitamin D per day for three months. Serum vitamin D levels and SCORAD were again measured at the end of three months in all AD patients.

Results

The baseline vitamin D levels in patients and controls did not have any statistically significant difference (p = .97). There was a statistically significant (p = .02) inverse relationship between the AD severity and serum vitamin D levels at baseline (r = −0.52). Maximum reduction in SCORAD (41.4 ± 12.7) after 3 months of vitamin D supplementation was seen in severe AD and the minimum (2.4 ± 13.2) in mild AD (p = .0003).

Conclusions

We found no difference in the mean serum vitamin D levels between AD patients and controls. An inverse correlation was seen between serum vitamin D levels at baseline and severity of AD. Beneficial effect of vitamin D supplementation was observed maximally in severe AD as observed by a reduction in SCORAD.

Keywords:

• Vitamin D levels
• atopic dermatitis
• supplementation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).