Obese children with celiac disease had lower levels of vitamin D – April 2012

Is vitamin D deficiency a feature of pediatric celiac disease?

J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2012;25(5-6):607-10.
Villanueva J, Maranda L, Nwosu BU.
University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, 01655, USA.

BACKGROUND:
Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune enteropathy characterized by villus atrophy and malabsorption of essential nutrients. Vitamin D deficiency has been described in autoimmune diseases, but its status in prepubertal children with CD has not been adequately studied.

OBJECTIVE:
To determine the vitamin D status of prepubertal children with CD.

STUDY DESIGN:
A retrospective study of prepubertal children aged 3-12 years with CD (n=24) who were compared to prepubertal, non-CD children of the same age (n=50). Children were included in the study if they had a diagnosis of CD by intestinal biopsy, and were not on a gluten-free diet (GFD). Patients were excluded if they had diseases of calcium or vitamin D metabolism, or were receiving calcium or vitamin D supplementation or had other autoimmune diseases. All subjects had their serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] level measured.

RESULTS:
There was no difference in 25(OH)D level between the CD and non-CD children (27.58 +/- 9.91 versus 26.20 +/- 10.45, p = 0.59).

However, when the patients were subdivided into obese and non-obese groups, the non-obese CD patients had a significantly higher 25(OH)D level than the obese normal children (28.39 +/- 10.26 versus 21.58 +/- 5.67, p = 0.009).

In contrast, there was no difference in 25(OH)D level between non-obese CD patients and non-obese normal children (28.39 +/- 10.26 versus 30.64 +/-12.08, p = 0.52). The season of 25(OH)D measurement was not a significant confounder (p =0.7).

CONCLUSIONS:
Our data showed no difference in 25(OH) D levels between normal children and those with CD when adjusted for body mass index.
PMID: 22876568

---

See also Vitamin D Life

• Overview Gut and vitamin D
• Overview Celiac and vitamin D*((
• All items in category gut and vitamin D 168 items