Vitamin D and Its Role in Ulcerative Colitis

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Immunomodulatory effects of vitamin D have been linked with autoimmune diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease. Procalcitonin as a marker of inflammation, has been proposed for bacterial infections. Objectives: The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between serum level of vitamin D and procalcitonin with activity of ulcerative colitis disease. Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 96 patients referred to the Gastroenterology Clinic of Baqiyatallah hospital in 2013, were analyzed. Thirty-two patients had active and 32 patients had silent ulcerative colitis or were in the remission phase of the disease. Thirty-two age- and sex-matched healthy controls were studied. The diagnosis of ulcerative colitis was previously established on the basis of clinical symptoms and colonoscopic demonstration. Results: Our sample comprised of 32 patients with active and 32 patients with silent ulcerative colitis, and 32 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The frequency of vitamin D deficiency was significantly higher in patients with active and silent ulcerative colitis when compared to healthy controls (75% and 65.6% versus 59.4%, respectively; P = 0.04). We found no significant difference in the serum level of procalcitonin among the groups. This study showed that the serum levels of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients with active ulcerative colitis were higher than the two other groups. Conclusions: Our results showed that vitamin D deficiency is more common in patients with ulcerative colitis. Laboratory findings confirmed the rise of ESR and CRP.