Assessing vitamin D as a biomarker in inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

Abstract Background and Aim A reliable serum biomarker for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) activity is needed. Vitamin D is involved in inflammation and has been demonstrated to be low in IBD patients with active disease. It is routinely measured in IBD patients. Therefore, vitamin D may have a role as a serum biomarker in IBD. This study aims to investigate whether serum vitamin D may be useful as a biomarker in IBD in a real‐world IBD population. Methods Patients were identified by review of fecal calprotectin (FCP) results, and those who had a clinical review, vitamin D test, and FCP performed within 3 months were included. Clinical scores were calculated from chart review. Nonparametric tests were used to investigate vitamin D and FCP levels, serum biomarkers, and clinical scores. Results Of 616 patients identified, 325 episodes of matched vitamin D level and biomarker data were obtained. A statistically significant correlation was found between vitamin D levels and FCP levels for all patients (r = −0.19 [s –0.29 to −0.080], P < 0.001]. This remained true when patients were divided into IBD subsets. Low vitamin D was associated with partial Mayo scores and C‐reactive protein (CRP) to albumin ratio in ulcerative colitis, and CRP and CRP/albumin ratio in Crohn's disease. Conclusion Vitamin D level is negatively correlated with FCP and it may be considered as an adjunct biomarker at this stage. A prospective study would be beneficial to investigate further correlations between vitamin D and existing biomarkers of inflammation in IBD.

Keywords

• biomarker
• fecal calprotectin
• inflammatory bowel disease
• vitamin D