An association between asthma and vitamin D: A prospective study in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Introduction: One of the most common chronic diseases is asthma and is related to the hyperresponsiveness of the airways due to prolonged inflammation. The causes for asthma is said to be raised IgE levels and mast cell granulations which are modulated by Vitamin D. Materials and Methods: 50 patients who were confirmed having asthma were included into the present study. Sputum and blood eosinophil count, IgE levels as well as Vitamin D levels were investigated for all the patients. All the patients were subjected to pre and post bronch odilator spirometry for FEV1 and FVC. Results: The mean for the Sputum eosinophil count was calculated and was found to be high in the 31(10.13 3.8) Vitamin D deficient group while it was in the normal range (1.97 1.36) among the people with sufficient vitamin D levels. Similar increased levels of eosinophils was seen in the serum and also in the IgE levels. Majority of the patients (14 in number) with deficient Vit D levels had severe asthma (45.2%) and 9 (29%) had moderate asthma. Mild asthma was seen in 6 (19.4%) and intermittent in 2 (6.5%). Atopy was seen in 21 of the patients with deficient Vit D levels and the mean FEV1 % was 61.6 3.7 among the patients with vit D deficient persons and 83.1 6.4 in the vit D sufficient patients Conclusion: Early detection of the vitamin D levels may help in assessing asthma and its severity in the early stages enabling early and effective treatment, thereby reducing the cost and hospitalization, not to mention the acute exacerbations due to asthma. Keywords: Vitamin D, Asthma, IgE, Pulmonary function test.