Researchers performed a physician-blinded prospective study of 70 patients with ulcerative colitis in clinical remission followed up after a colonoscopy at a tertiary medical center.
To do so, researchers collected serum samples at the time of colonoscopy while determining baseline endoscopic and histological activity.
The primary outcome in the study was rate of clinical relapse, determined over a 12-month period.
Here’s what they found.
1. The average baseline vitamin D level was lower among patients with relapse (29.5 ng/mL) than without (50.3 ng/mL) (P = .001).
2. Remission vitamin D level (≤35 ng/mL) was associated with a risk of clinical relapse over 12 months, independent of endoscopic or histologic grade at enrollment.
3. The researchers found, “A receiver operating characteristic curve of vitamin D levels for relapse outcome’s had an area under the curve of 0.72; and a serum level of 35 ng/mL or less had a sensitivity of 70 percent (95 percent CI, 46 percent–88 percent) and a specificity of 74 percent (95 percent CI 57 percent –83 percent) for predicting risk of clinical relapse.”
4. Researchers concluded, “Serum levels of vitamin D of 35 ng/mL or less during periods of clinical remission increase the risk of UC relapse, but admitted clinical trials to obtain vitamin D levels higher than this threshold should be considered.”
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