Vitamin D and the recurrence of rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Objective To identify the correlation between vitamin D prescription and recurrence in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods A randomized controlled trial study was performed in 170 RA patients who were in remission during the past 2 months. According to the level of vitamin D,170 RA patients were divided into normal vitamin D group (84 patients) and deficiency vitamin D group (86 patients). Deficiency vitamin D group were randomly allocated to receive vitamin D treatment(vitamin D treatment group) or without vitamin D treatment (control group). In the 6-month follow-up period,the recurrence status was observed and compared. Results In the 6-month follow-up period,the recurrence rate of RA in normal vitamin D group was 16.7%(14/84), in vitamin D treatment group was 19.0%(8/42) and in control group was 29.5%(13/44), and there was no significant difference (P>0.05). In vitamin D treatment group, no hypercalcemia and hyperphosphatemia occured. The age,course of disease and remission time in recurrence patients of three groups were no significant difference (P>0.05). The level of vitamin D in recurrence patients of vitamin D treatment group was higher than that in recurrence patients of control group: (25.5±8.9) ng/L vs. (20.9±8.6) ng/L, and there was significant difference(P<0.05). Conclusion Vitamin D deficiency is not identified to be a risk factor for RA recurrence. Vitamin D does not reduce the recurrence of RA. Key words: Vitamin D; Recurrence; Arthritis, rheumatoid; Randomized controlled trial