Modern concepts of vitamin D role in juvenile idiopathic arthritis in children (review)

Abstract

Arthritis is one of the most common chronic rheumatic diseases in children. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the current nomenclature that is used to refer to a group of diseases that include chronic arthritis, childhood-onset arthritis of unknown cause. The etiology of JIA is unknown and the pathogenesis is likely to be multifactorial. One of the risk factors for the development of this disease is an insufficient level of vitamin D in the blood serum. The purpose of the analysis of the literature data was to compile and interpret data on the current point of view on the status of vitamin D in children with JIA. This article summarizes reports about the role of vitamin D in the development and clinical manifestation of juvenile arthritis (JA). Plenty of studies show a low level of vitamin D in blood serum in children with juvenile arthritis. At the same time, the role of low vitamin D status in the initiation of juvenile idiopathic arthritis development, activation of the inflammatory process, and further prognosis is controversial. The questions about vitamin D supplementation, its duration and dosage are still relevant. Five biomedical literature search bases were accessed, in the following order: Medline (using Ovid), Embase (using Ovid), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINHAL), Web of Science, and Scopus.

Keywords

• juvenile idiopathic arthritis
• juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
• juvenile chronic arthritis
• vitamin D status
• review