Study of serum vitamin D level in adult patients with bronchial asthma

Abstract

Background: Asthma represents one of the most common chronic diseases and is a major public health problem worldwide. The innate and adaptive immune systems play an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma (Global Initiative for Asthma: GINA Report, 2010). Vitamin D has several effects on the innate and adaptive immune systems that might be relevant in the primary prevention of asthma, in the protection against or reduction of asthma morbidity, and in the modulation of the severity of asthma exacerbations. Vitamin D insufficiency is increasingly recognized in the general population, and has been largely attributed to dietary, lifestyle and behavioral changes. While its musculoskeletal consequences are well established, a new hypothesis links asthma to subnormal vitamin D levels (Ginde et al., 2009). Objective: Assessment of vitamin D status in patients with bronchial asthma and its relation to disease control and severity. Patients and methods: This study included 90 subjects divided into two groups, First group included 70 adult asthmatic patients (39 females and 31 males) who attended Chest Diseases Department, AL-Azhar University Hospitals between September 2014 and August 2015, their ages ranged from 18 to 52 years with a mean age of (35.5 ± 8 y). The second group included 20 healthy adult (12 female and 8 male) as a control group, their ages ranged from 20 to 55 years with a mean age of (34.4 ± 6 y). All subjects in this study were submitted to full medical history and clinical examination, plain P-A chest X-ray, routine laboratory investigations, spirometry, calculation of body mass index (BMI) and detection of serum vitamin D level by ELISA (Euroimmun, Germany). Results: The study showed that serum vitamin D level was significantly decreased in asthmatic patients (19.88 ± 9.6 ng/ml) as compared with the healthy control group (33.5 ± 6.1 ng/ml). Also serum vitamin D level was significantly decreased in uncontrolled asthmatic patients (10.5 ± 5.2 ng/ml) as compared with the controlled patients (20.5 ± 7.5 ng/ml). Conclusion: There is an important association between adult bronchial asthma and vitamin D deficiency or even insufficiency. A strong correlation between the serum vitamin D level and asthma severity and control was found.

Keywords

• Vitamin D
• Asthma severity
• Asthma control