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CC BY 4.0 · Journal of Coloproctology 2025; 45(01): s00451804896
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1804896
Original Article

Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Paula de Souza Pereira 
1   Department of Coloproctology, Professor Alberto Antunes Hospital, Federal University of Alagoas (HUPAA/UFAL), Maceió, AL, Brazil
,
Manoel Alvaro de Freitas Lins Neto 
1   Department of Coloproctology, Professor Alberto Antunes Hospital, Federal University of Alagoas (HUPAA/UFAL), Maceió, AL, Brazil
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Abstract

Introduction

The relationship between hypovitaminosis D and the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is well established in countries with high prevalence and incidence of IBD and low exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation. However, only some studies included emerging countries, which have an increasing prevalence of IBD and diverse climate and social conditions.

Objective

This cross-sectional study's purpose is to evaluate the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D and its relationship with IBD activity in patients treated at a reference service in an emerging country.

Methods

This study analyzed the medical records of 113 patients from June 2022 to August 2023. We collected data about sex, age, IBD diagnosis, vitamin D serum levels, fecal calprotectin, and IBD medication. We presented the descriptive data as absolute and relative frequencies. We looked for possible links between calprotectin and vitamin D in people with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). We used the Chi-square test of independence (when expected cell counts were greater than 5) and Fisher's exact test (when expected cell counts were less than 5).

Results

We diagnosed 78 patients with UC and 35 with CD. Serum vitamin D levels were less than 30 ng/dl in 57.1% of patients with CD and 57,7% of those with UC. There was no association between low vitamin D serum levels and fecal calprotectin.

Conclusion

The present study indicates a prevalence of low vitamin D serum levels in patients with IBD, but this finding does not have a significant relationship with disease activity.

Keywords

inflammatory bowel disease - crohn's disease - ulcerative colitis - vitamin D - hypovitaminosis D


Publication History

Received: 02 August 2024

Accepted: 21 January 2025

Article published online:
26 March 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Bibliographical Record
Paula de Souza Pereira, Manoel Alvaro de Freitas Lins Neto. Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Journal of Coloproctology 2025; 45: s00451804896.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1804896
 

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