Decreased vitamin D levels in children and adolescents with Celiac disease: A nationwide cross-sectional study

Abstract

Aims:Vitamin D deficiency results from malabsorption in Celiac disease (CD), and it may also be involved in the pathogenesis of CD. There is no clarity regarding vitamin D deficiency in CD. We investigated the frequency of vitamin D deficiency in children with CD compared with controls.Methods:The database of the Turkish Ministry of Health was used for the cross-sectional descriptive study. Children with CD whose serum tissue transglutaminase (tTG) and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels were available in the registry were included. The CD group was further subdivided into tTG (IgG and/or IgA) antibody-negative and positive subgroups. Individuals with CD were classified as compatible and non-compatible with a gluten-free diet (GFD) (GFD-compatible and GFD-non-compatible groups), respectively. Children who had no known malabsorption syndrome formed the control group.Results:The median serum 25(OH)D level was 18.5 ng/mL in children with CD (n=6717) and 30.7 ng/mL in the control group (n=6717) (p<0.001). The vitamin D levels of the GFD-compatible (n=1102) and GFD-non-compatible groups (n=5615) were 19.36 ng/mL and 18.30 ng/mL, respectively (p<0.001). The rate of vitamin D deficiency was 56% in the CD group and 12% in the control group (p<0.001).Conclusions:This study found significantly lower serum vitamin D levels in children and adolescents with CD. The results suggest children with CD should be evaluated for vitamin D levels and followed periodically.

Keywords

• 25-hydroxyvitamin d
• vitamin d deficiency
• transglutaminase antibody
• gluten-free diet