Role of vitamin d levels in rheumatoid arthritis and its correlation with disease severity

Abstract

Objective: Deficiency of Vitamin D has been linked in the pathogenesis of many autoimmune diseases such as diabetes mellitus type 1 and multiple sclerosis. Deficiency of vitamin D has been associated with high susceptibility of the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and also with increased disease activity in patients with RA. The objective of this study was to evaluate the status of vitamin D in patients with RA, assess the correlation between serum level of Vitamin D and disease severity. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective, comparative study conducted on 100 participants, 50 cases of RA and 50 healthy controls, all in the age group of 18-75 years. Serum Vitamin D levels were measured and compared in cases and controls. Results: Ninety two percent patients belonging to the RA group were Vitamin D deficient, whereas only twenty four percent belonging to the control group had Vitamin D deficiency. There was a significant inverse correlation between serum Vitamin D levels and RA disease severity. The mean serum Vitamin D levels were 34.36ng/ml,32.25±0.395ng/ml, 22.70±4.787ng/ml and 16.41±2.911ng/ml in the remission, low disease activity, moderate disease activity, and high disease activity groups, respectively. Conclusion: Vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency are more common in patients with RA. In this study Vitamin D deficiency was related to RA patients with older age, RA with female gender and a higher degree of RA activity.