Are children with asthma in South Korea also associated with vitamin D deficiency?

Abstract

Recently, epidemiologic studies have shown that the lack of serum vitamin D levels may be associated with high asthma prevalence, but its effect is still controversial, depending on season, area, and food consumption. We aimed to examine the association of serum vitamin D levels with the prevalence of pediatric asthma in Korea. A total of 80 children (50 asthmatic children and 30 healthy controls) aged 6-14 years were participated in this study. Serum vitamin D levels were measured and compared between the two groups. Moreover, the relationship of serum vitamin D levels with results of pulmonary function test and environmental factors (lifestyle habits and residential factors) collected by a questionnaire survey were examined in asthmatic patients. Serum vitamin D levels in asthmatic children (16.63±4.20 ng/mL) were significantly lower than that in healthy controls (24.24±6.76 ng/mL) (p<0.05). Also, we found that the prevalence of asthma increase to 0.79-fold (odds ratio, 0.79; 95% confidence interval, 0.71 to 0.88; p<0.001) as serum vitamin D level is 1 ng/mL decreases. The increased time spent in outdoor could affect the increases of serum vitamin D levels significantly. However, no associations of serum vitamin D with pulmonary function and residential environmental factors (i.e., housing type, living floor, and indoor activity time) were observed. Our findings suggest that serum vitamin D levels were also associated with pediatric asthma in Korea. Moreover, management of serum vitamin D level in asthmatic children would be a promising approach for preventing exaggeration of their severity.

Association of vitamin D levels and asthma exacerbations in children and adolescents: Experience from a tertiary care center

“…Serum vitamin D levels are influenced by environmental factors such as age, body fat, amount of melanin, and time spent outdoors, which is why this current study examined failure to thrive and stature [6]. However, the findings in the current study are different than other studies, which found no significant difference in BMI between their control and asthmatic group, while another found that vitamin D insufficiency was associated with a higher BMI [2,9].…”

“…Esfandiar et al presented similar findings, in which 73.9% of a group of children with asthma were vitamin D deficient [3]. Another study conducted in Korea also found that 86% of asthmatic children showed vitamin D deficiency, whereas 28% of non-atopic children had deficient levels [2]. Further, the current study revealed that 34.21% of children in the vitamin D insufficient group failed to thrive and approximately 28.94% of children had short stature.…”

“…The incidence and prevalence of asthma remains high in children worldwide [1]. Although multiple environmental and genetic factors contribute towards this condition, there is increasing evidence supporting the association between vitamin D deficiency and childhood asthma, in terms of prevalence [1][2][3][4]. Aside from vitamin D's functions of calcium absorption and bone mineralization, current literature suggests that vitamin D plays a role as an immune system regulator, with its deficiency contributing towards immunologically-based diseases such as asthma [5,6].…”

Vitamin D and asthma occurrence in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 35 studies were finally included in our meta-analysis. Among them, 24 studies were analyzing the association between 2, 5-OHD level and the occurrence of asthma (Alyasin et al, 2011;Awasthi & Vikram, 2014;Bai & Dai, 2018;Bener et al, 2014;Chinellato et al, 2011;Esfandiar et al, 2016;Han et al, 2017;Han et al, 2018;Hatami et al, 2014;Havan et al, 2017;Hennessy et al, 2018;Kang et al, 2018;Khan et al, 2014;Kim et al, 2017;Menon et al, 2012;Mirzakhani et al, 2018;Munkhbayarlakh et al, 2019;Omole et al, 2018;Ozkars et al, 2019;Ozturk Thomas et al, 2019;Pollard et al, 2017;Reinehr et al, 2018;Thorsteinsdottir et al, 2020;Wawrzyniak et al, 2017), and 12 studies were evaluating the effect of vitamin D supplement in treating asthma (Bar Yoseph et al, 2015;Baris et al, 2014;Jensen et al, 2016;Kang et al, 2018;C. P. Kerley et al, 2016;Litonjua et al, 2020;Paweł Majak et al, 2011;P.…”

Trends in the Prevalence of Childhood Asthma in Seoul Metropolitan City, Korea: The Seoul Atopy ∙ Asthma-friendly School Project

“…Asthma treatment is costly, interferes with learning, and has a high disease burden [1]. While genetic factors are related to the incidence of childhood asthma, environmental factors and daily habits are also important [2,3]. Thus, early diagnosis and treatment are necessary to prevent asthma and its exacerbations [4].…”