Lupus 8X more likely to not even have 20 ng of vitamin D – May 2011

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased autoimmune response in healthy individuals and in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Ann Rheum Dis. 2011 May 17.
Ritterhouse LL, Crowe SR, Niewold TB, Kamen DL, Macwana SR, Roberts VC, Dedeke AB, Harley JB, Scofield RH, Guthridge JM, James JA.
1Arthritis and Clinical Immunology, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.

OBJECTIVES:
Vitamin D deficiency is widespread and has been associated with many chronic diseases, including autoimmune disorders. A study was undertaken to explore the impact of low vitamin D levels on autoantibody production in healthy individuals, as well as B cell hyperactivity and interferon ? (IFN?) activity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

METHODS:
Serum samples from 32 European American female patients with SLE and 32 matched controls were tested for 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels, lupus-associated autoantibodies and serum IFN? activity. Isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells were tested for intracellular phospho-ERK 1/2 as a measure of B cell activation status.

RESULTS:
Vitamin D deficiency (25(OH)D <20 ng/ml) was significantly more frequent among patients with SLE (n=32, 69%) and antinuclear antibody (ANA)-positive controls (n=14, 71%) compared with ANA-negative controls (n=18, 22%) (OR 7.7, 95% CI 2.0 to 29.4, p=0.003 and OR 8.8, 95% CI 1.8 to 43.6, p=0.011, respectively). Patients with high B cell activation had lower mean (SD) 25(OH)D levels than patients with low B cell activation (17.2 (5.1) vs 24.2 (3.9) ng/ml; p=0.009). Patients with vitamin D deficiency also had higher mean (SD) serum IFN? activity than patients without vitamin D deficiency (3.5 (6.6) vs 0.3 (0.3); p=0.02).

CONCLUSIONS:
The observation that ANA-positive healthy controls are significantly more likely to be deficient in vitamin D than ANA-negative healthy controls, together with the finding that vitamin D deficiency is associated with certain immune abnormalities in SLE, suggests that vitamin D plays an important role in autoantibody production and SLE pathogenesis.

PMID: 21586442

---

See also Vitamin D Life

• All items in category Lupus and Vitamin D 60 items
• Lupus flares eliminated by loading dose then 100,000 IU of vitamin D each month – Oct 2012
• Lupus biomarker ( regulatory T cell, treg) is associated with level of vitamin D – Jan 2013