LIVERPOOL, England—Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) progression does not appear to adversely affect vitamin D status and bone mineral density (BMD), at least not in school age subjects. A new study published online ahead of print in the Digestive Diseases and Sciences journal discuss their a cross-sectional analysis of 60 children newly diagnosed with IBD—nine with Crohn’s disease (CD), mean age 12.2 ± 2.1 years, and 21 with ulcerative colitis (UC), mean age 12.4 ± 3.7 years. Using 56 non-IBD kids (age- and sex-matched) as controls, researchers measured serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D and adjusted lumbar spine scores for both intervention and control subjects. They also assessed activity indices for both CD and UC.
Serum vitamin D levels were lower in IBD patients compared to control children, and among the IBD subjects BMD was slightly lower in those with CD than in those with UC. However, there was no correlation between the vitamin D levels, BMD and IBD severity. The scientists concluded while vitamin D levels appear lower in IBD patients, they appear unaffected by the severity of disease, while BMD may be affected by neither vitamin D status or IBD severity; they called for more research to further elucidate the connections or lack thereof.